Season's Changes
by LuckyDuck29
Summary: Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, Spinelli's life is changed forever in ways he never expected. Please see my profile for the link to the ld29info forum for the author's notes.
1. Chapter 1

"Only you and Georgie would know the first menu," Mack said, smiling at his daughter and her date.

Spinelli exchanged glances with Georgie, then smiled back at her adopted father. He was glad he'd been able to please the Faithful Friend with his Thanksgiving gift of corn soup and maple sugar candy. Her smile and exclamations had made his day.

During dinner, Spinelli didn't think of the Blonde One more than once or twice. He felt only slightly guilty, considering the fact that Lulu had most likely had dinner with the Knuckle Scraper. As painful as that was, it couldn't overshadow the fact that Spinelli was feeling happier and more relaxed here, with Georgie, Dr. Robin and Commissioner Scorpio than he had felt in months, ever since the day Maxie had happily told him that the Blonde One and the Unworthy One had slept together.

As Mack went into the kitchen to get the pie, the phone rang and Maxie ran to answer it. Spinelli saw her expression change and began to worry. Maxie was never truly happy, unless she was hurting someone, and even then Spinelli had his doubts. But now her expression turned angry and resentful.

"Georgie," she said in a bitter tone, "it's Mom."

"Excuse me," Georgie said to Spinelli. "I'll be right back."

Spinelli nodded, still watching Maxie. The Bad Blonde One had told him once that her mother had walked out of her life, but Georgie had said she'd gone to take care of their sick grandmother. Part of him felt sorry for Maxie. Yes, she had been through a lot, but she had also caused a lot of her own problems. He wondered if the girl could ever feel grateful for anything in her life instead of concentrating on everything she didn't have. Today was a day for giving thanks, not for causing trouble, and he could only hope she would not make Georgie feel bad for talking to their absent mother.

He glanced around the table and saw Coop also watching Maxie. He knew she and Coop had been having problems, also caused by Maxie. She had slept with Coop's friend, after all, and the only reason she had done it was to break Lulu's heart. Spinelli would never forgive Maxie for what she and Logan had done to the Blonde One. Coop apparently had, and Spinelli hoped the Clean Cut Cadet's heart would not be broken again. Coop didn't deserve to be hurt anymore than Fair Lulu did.

Maxie came back to the table and sat next to Coop with a sour expression.

"Why is she even bothering to call?" she asked no one in particular as Mack brought the pie out of the kitchen. "It's not like she cares."

"Enough," Mack said angrily. He didn't raise his voice, but there was no mistaking the "I'm not putting up with this today" tone. "Felicia does care and she'll be home as soon as she can."

"Yeah, right," Maxie said, just loud enough for everyone at the table to hear.

"Maxie, give it a rest," Robin said quietly. "Can we please have just one day without you causing trouble and making people feel bad?"

"She's right," Coop said. "Be thankful you have people to spend Thanksgiving with and be grateful that your mom does care enough to call, and she does care, whether you wanna admit it or not."

"Dad," Georgie said, "Mom wants to talk to you."

After handing the phone to Mack, she headed back to the table, smiling. Maxie looked at Spinelli, who pulled Georgie's chair out for her.

"Well," Maxie asked him challengingly, "doesn't the Jackal have anything to say about the behavior of the Bad Blonde One?"

Spinelli shook his head.

"I think your family, and the Clean Cut Cadet, have said all that needs to be said."

Georgie thanked Spinelli for holding her chair for her, smiling at him. Then she glared at her mouthy big sister.

"Drop it, Maxie. You said Mom didn't care enough to call, but she called; you were wrong. Just deal with it and get over yourself. This conversation is over."

She turned back to Spinelli and asked him about Jason's plans for Thanksgiving.

"Stone Cold hasn't been home much," Spinelli said, trying not to bring poor Emily's death into the conversation. He didn't want to dampen everyone's mood any further than Maxie already had. "I haven't seen him since he left Wyndemere. His bike is gone, so he's probably riding; he does that when he gets upset."

"How can you tell when he's upset?" Maxie asked. "He never shows any feeling."

"Maxie!" Georgie said angrily.

"You have to know him," Robin said smoothly.

"He doesn't always express his feelings," Spinelli said to Maxie, keeping his tone conversational, determined not to show that she'd annoyed him," but that doesn't mean he doesn't feel them. He feels as deeply as anyone."

"Spinelli and I know Jason, Maxie," Robin said angrily. "You don't know the first thing about him, so why don't you just keep your mouth shut?"

Maxie opened her mouth to make an angry reply, but before she could speak, Coop shoved a fork full of pie into her mouth. Everyone grinned at her surprised expression.

"I'm sorry about her," Georgie whispered to Spinelli. "I wish we could just have one day without-"

"Don't worry about it, Faithful Friend," he whispered back. "You can't stop Maxie from saying what she wants to say, whether it's true or not. No one can force her to be nice."

"What are you two whispering about?" Mack asked. There was a teasing tone in his voice and a mischievous grin on his face. "Hey, Spinelli, are you whispering sweet nothings in my daughter's ear?"

Spinelli blushed.

"Dad!" Georgie said, wanting to hide her face. She was sure she was as red as Spinelli.

But that comment broke the tension and the conversation turned to other things. The rest of the dinner went smoothly. Maxie was quiet, letting the others do most of the talking, and Spinelli felt comfortable being able to talk to everyone without worrying about saying or doing the wrong thing. He followed the advice Stone Cold had given him just before the ball; "just do what everybody else does."

The fact that only Maxie gave him strange looks and made the occasional sarcastic comment made Spinelli feel good. Maxie's attitude counted for very little, since she was hardly ever nice to anyone. Commissioner Scorpio seemed to like him and Spinelli was glad. It was never good to have your friend's parents dislike you. Dr. Robin obviously liked him, otherwise she would not have asked him to be the sperm donor for her child. He still felt guilty that he had not been able to comply; he had wanted to, but Stone Cold had been right. Spinelli was not the type to father a child and then have nothing to do with him or her. Coop was always nice to Spinelli, but today he had seemed to take a genuine interest in what the Jackal had to say. Overall, this had been the best day Spinelli had spent with anyone in ages. The only thing that would have made it better would have been having Stone Cold and the Blonde One there, too.


	2. Chapter 2

"Are you sure?" Nadine asked Kelly, who was making her final rounds after the unexpected hospital feast Mr. Quartermaine had provided.

"I'm positive; I ran the test twice. Jolene is eleven weeks pregnant. Because of the coma, if I hadn't been running a routine checkup on her, I never would have noticed. She had scheduled the appointment after her last checkup, a couple of weeks before the shooting."

Nadine stared numbly at her comatose sister. Why had she gotten pregnant? She had to know she would have been caught eventually, even if she hadn't been shot, or if she hadn't been shot she would have most likely had to be on the run. What kind of life was that for a child?

Now Nadine was going to have to do something she'd been putting off ever since she'd come to Port Charles. She was going to have to read her sister's diary. She had found it a few days after she had moved into Jolene's apartment, but didn't want to read about her horrible actions. Part of her believed that if she didn't read about them from Jolene herself, that small part of her could stay in denial forever and this would not become real for her. She knew it was irrational, but it didn't stop her from hoping.

"What do you want to do?" Kelly asked quietly. "As her next of kin, you're the one who needs to make the decision whether or not to abort."

"first I'm gonna see if I can find out who the father is. This is his responsibility, too. If I can find him, I'll talk to him and find out what he wants. We'll make the decision together. He may want the baby; I don't have the right to make this decision without talking to him first."

Her shift was over, so she could go home any time. She had paid her usual visit to her sister and had just been about to leave when Kelly walked in and gave her the news. Now she walked out of the hospital in a daze and went home to finally read her sister's deepest, darkest thoughts.

She skimmed the diary, looking for anything that might catch her eye, something that would hint at a boyfriend, but didn't find anything before June. Then her stomach dropped when she read about how Jordan Lovell, the MedCam representative, had approached her with a job offer. Could he be the father?

To her relief, there was no mention of her sleeping with him, or anyone else, not then. Nadine frowned. Who could it be? Had she gotten drunk one night and slept with someone she didn't even know? That wasn't like Jolene, but neither was killing people. She had to stop thinking of the stranger in that hospital bed as the sister she grew up loving.

She couldn't help smiling when Jolene wrote about Mr. Jackal. Spinelli had been the first one to approach Nadine when she came to the hospital. He had been cold to her at first because of Jolene's actions, but had seemed to thaw a little when he warned her not to be surprised if people viewed her with suspicion. She had learned since then that coldness was very out of character for Spinelli. He was a good, sweet, caring, compassionate person who had been the first to really befriend her since her arrival in Port Charles. He now referred to her as his favorite nurse, Nadine.

Jolene described in detail every unspeakable act she did for MedCam. Nadine couldn't help crying, thinking of all the good times she'd had with Jolene when they were growing up and trying to compare her with this cold, bitter, evil person writing these entries, who had become the woman lying in a hospital bed in a coma. How had she gotten from point A to point B to point C? How could the sister she had described to Spinelli and Elizabeth be this monster who had so little regard for human life after their father's death that she would trap Spinelli and Jason in an elevator with a pregnant, HIV positive patient who was having medical complications? The woman had died, but as Spinelli had told Nadine the day they met, her baby lived on. But the baby lived on without a mother, thanks to Jolene.

Nadine felt betrayed. She had become a nurse to try to prevent tragedies like the one that had happened to her father, and she had thought Jolene had become a nurse for the same reason. "I was wrong," she thought angrily, wanting to rip the diary up and throw it in the shredder. It was only the memory of Kelly's news that prevented her from following her impulses. "She didn't become a nurse to honor Dad and prevent other families from feeling our pain; she just wanted to cause as much misery for other innocent people as she could!"

She forced herself to stop crying, took a deep breath and read further. She needed to know who her niece or nephew's father was; she would deal with the personal repercussions of the rest of it later.

She felt a rush of sympathy for Spinelli when Jolene wrote about how he had blamed himself for the elevator's malfunction. The Jackal had a serious self-esteem problem. Jolene had told him that if anyone was responsible, it was the hospital for not fixing the elevators years ago. Nadine's anger intensified again, knowing that it had really been the glass of water Jolene had thrown on the circuit board that had caused that poor woman's death.

There were traces of the Jolene Nadine knew in the diary, too, particularly when she talked about Spinelli. She expressed genuine guilt for making him feel responsible for what happened in the elevator, as well as the fact that she liked him personally. She worried that Jason would learn what she was doing, but she seemed more worried that Spinelli would find out and hate her. She said she looked forward to seeing him each Saturday. She knew he had a crush on her and wished she could let him know the feeling was mutual, but her job for MedCam made it impossible. Not only was it possible that he could find out what she was doing and expose her, but if he didn't find out and someone else discovered it, he might be implicated by association. She didn't want to get him into trouble; he was completely innocent and not part of the hospital personnel. The only reason he was there every Saturday was to see her and visit Jason.

The more she read, the more she wanted to share this with Spinelli. He felt strongly, deeply, and she knew how little he thought of himself. She hoped it would help him to know that not everything Jolene said to him was a lie.

She stared in shock at the September 8 entry. It had to be Spinelli; he was the only one she mentioned sleeping with in this time period. Spinelli was the father of Jolene's baby. How was she going to tell him? Jolene had seduced him and then, according to the September 15 entry, rejected him. She had used him, then, to add insult to injury, faked an interest in one of Spinelli's best friends. "How could you do that to him, Jolene?" Nadine thought angrily. "He didn't deserve that!"

Jolene hadn't thought so either, but she had still done it. She had used Spinelli's feelings, just like Lulu had tried to do that night in the barn. Spinelli had been strong then because he knew that allowing Lulu to leave the barn would probably get her killed. He had no reason to resist Jolene; he honestly had thought she returned his feelings, regardless of the fact that a few weeks before she had called him a freak and a stalker. That had hurt him; Nadine could tell by Jolene's description of his reaction in the earlier entry. Nadine had to admire his determination; after she had called him a freak and a stalker, then tried to make a date with Jason, Spinelli had found out from Jason that she liked bowling and had tried to learn how so he could impress her. She wished she could find a guy who was as attentive to her as Spinelli was to Jolene and Lulu.

She forced herself to read up until the end, the night before the shooting. Jolene had not been looking forward to graduation; the business with MedCam had spoiled her enthusiasm. Adding to that the fact that her job for Jordan had caused her to hurt Spinelli, Jolene had been thinking of not going in to the hospital at all the next night. But she decided to go because it was Jason's last night, which meant it was also Spinelli's last night. She wanted to see him and try to explain that he hadn't been the problem, that she honestly did like him and that her actions concerning their relationship had not been the result of a failing in him, but a failing in her.

Jolene's last paragraph was optimistic. She was positive that she could make Spinelli see that they could be friends, even if they couldn't be together. She was sure she could get him to forgive her.

Nadine shook her head. Spinelli probably would have forgiven her, eventually, for what she had done to him, but she didn't think even someone as kind and compassionate as The Jackal would be able to forgive what Jolene had done to everyone else.

She needed to tell him about the baby. "Not tonight," she decided. "He's probably having Thanksgiving dinner." Tomorrow, after her shift, she would call him and ask him to meet with her. She was about to give him news that would change his life forever, no matter what he ultimately decided to do. She only hoped that whatever the change was, it would make him stronger and more confident instead of causing him more pain. Jolene had done enough to hurt him already.


	3. Chapter 3

"How was dinner at Georgie's?" Lulu asked when Spinelli got home.

"It was fun," he said, surprised to find her waiting up for him.

"Maxie didn't cause any trouble?"

Spinelli shrugged.

"Maxie is Maxie. Her bitterness couldn't spoil the day with everyone else there. Together the family kept her in line. How was your dinner?"

Lulu grinned. Spinelli thought there was a bit of sheepishness in the grin.

"Well, there were a few unexpected surprises. Scott was already there; I kind of interrupted his Thanksgiving plans. He wanted to have a father and son dinner with Logan, but he left is Thanksgiving chicken for us to cook and left us alone."

Spinelli allowed his worry about Lulu being alone with the Unworthy One to be secondary to his confusion over something she had said; he wasn't sure he'd heard right. Besides, if Lulu was going to make the mistake of rekindling the relationship with the Crabby Commando and getting back everything they had before, including the sexual aspect, there was nothing Spinelli could do about it except be her friend and support her if and when he broke her blonde heart again. He didn't think they were sleeping together again, but for Fair Lulu's sake, he prayed not.

"Chicken?"

"He said he got confused," Lulu said, smiling. "It was a total lie; I don't know what that was about."

She looked him in the eyes for a second, then took a deep breath. Spinelli knew by her face and body language that he wasn't going to like what she had to say.

"Spinelli, I need to tell you something. I can't stay here anymore. It's nothing you and Jason have done or haven't done; it's my family. With my dad so sick and my brothers in so much pain, I feel like I need to be with them, so I'm going to move back into the Quartermaine mansion; my dad needs me more than either of my brothers.

Spinelli felt a strange mixture of sadness and affection. Fair Lulu was a loyal and devoted daughter and sister; it didn't surprise him that she would move back into a place she hated in order to help her family.

"The Jackal understands completely," he said, hiding his disappointment. He loved having her here, but he had known she wouldn't stay forever. He was just glad she wasn't moving back in with Logan. "Does the Blonde One need assistance in packing her belongings?"

"No, thanks," she said, smiling, glad he wasn't upset and that he wasn't going to try to talk her out of it. She knew if she had told him she was moving back in with Logan he would have tried to convince her not to, and she knew at this point that he would be right. Logan had not earned back her trust yet. She had trusted him during the Zacchara situation, but protecting her life during a crisis didn't mean she could trust him not to hurt her again. "I've got most of it done already; I started when I got home from Logan's."

Spinelli nodded and they shared a snack before going up to their respective rooms to sleep.

The next day, Spinelli had Lulu's breakfast ready for her when she came downstairs. They talked as she ate. Lulu was so worried about her family and Spinelli felt sorry there was nothing more he could do for her.

"Thank you," she said as she gave him back her key to Casa De Stone Cold. "I really don't know what I'd do without you."

"The feeling is most mutual, and if you ever need a friend during your family troubles, or for any other reason-"

"I know who to call," she said, giving him a hug before taking the rest of her things out to her car.

Spinelli closed the door behind her, looked around the room and began to worry. Stone Cold still wasn't home yet. He had gotten into an accident once on his bike after finding out that he was Jake's father, trying to ease his secret pain. Spinelli knew Stone Cold was an adult; he was older than Spinelli, but he wished his friend would check in with him to let him know he was OK.

He jumped when his cell phone rang, then smiled with relief, thinking it was Jason.

"Greetings?" he answered.

"Hi, Spinelli; it's Nadine.

"Nurse Nadine," he said, happy to hear from her, but disappointed that it wasn't Stone Cold. He thought he'd successfully kept the disappointment out of his voice.

"Um, can we meet later?" she asked hesitantly. "I need to show you something, and there's also something I need to tell you."

He suddenly realized that even if he hadn't been able to keep the disappointment out of his tone, she wouldn't have noticed. She sounded worried and upset.

"Is something wrong?"

"Well, that's gonna depend on your reaction to my news."

"OK, would you like to meet here at Casa De Stone Cold, or maybe Kelly's or the Coffee House?"

"I think we should talk about this privately. Can you meet me at my apartment?"

Spinelli blinked in surprise. No girl had ever asked him to her apartment before. He knew there was nothing romantic involved, but it was still a first for him. He grabbed a pad and pencil and wrote down the directions she gave him.

"What time would you like me to come?"

"My shift is over at 6:00. Is 7:00 OK?

"That's fine. I will see you then."

They said goodbye and he hung up, feeling curious and apprehensive. What could she have to show him? What might be more important was what she had to tell him. Was Jolene awake? He didn't think so; she could have just told him that over the phone. Besides, no one expected her to wake up. He shrugged; there was no sense speculating. He would find out when he saw her.

He stared at the phone in his hand, wondering again if he should call Stone Cold, when his mentor walked in.

"Greetings," Spinelli said, keeping his tone casual and hiding his relief that Stone Cold was home n one piece.

Jason nodded, then looked at the paper on the table with the directions to Nadine's apartment.

"What's that?"

"Nadine wants me to meet her at her apartment; she wants to show me something, and she says there's something she wants to tell me."

"Having to do with Jolene?"

"I'll find out at 7:00 tonight, but it sounds serious."

"I know it's wrong to be suspicious of her because of what Jolene did, but just be careful."

"I will. The Jackal is not infatuated with her like he was with the Falsely Fair Jolene. Nurse Nadine and I are just friends and I don't expect us to ever be anything more."

"You never know. If she doesn't turn out to be like Jolene, and I don't think she will, you might end up together. I just don't wanna see you get hurt again."

"The Jackal appreciates his friend's concern and promises to keep his advice in mind."

There was no mistaking the affection in his tone.

"Good. Listen; I need you to do something for me. I need you to hack into the security cameras at Wyndemere; I need you to show me all the footage from the night of the ball."

"OK," Spinelli said cautiously. He wanted to do anything he could to help Jason through his grief, but didn't think watching what happened the night his sister was killed would help him. "Are you looking for anything specific?"

"I need to find out who killed Emily."

"But Zacchara-" Spinelli began, confused.

"I don't think it was Zacchara. I think it might have been Nikolas, or if not him, someone else. Someone tried to strangle Carly that night, too. It might have been the same person who killed Emily. Zacchara didn't try to kill Carly because he was with me and Elizabeth up on the turret; he was threatening to push her off if I didn't jump off myself. I need you to help me find the truth.

Spinelli stared at him. He hadn't known Stone Cold or the Maternal One had been threatened that night. He was both appalled at Zacchara's ruthlessness and relieved that more lives hadn't been lost that awful night.

"Why would you think it was Nikolas?" he asked. "What reason could the Prince possibly have to hurt Emily or the Valkyrie?"

"He's been having blackouts. He gets these rage attacks and doesn't remember what he did. He's been having them for weeks and they're getting worse."

Spinelli listened, horrified, as Jason explained Nikolas's actions during the blackouts; he had attacked Logan twice and Spinelli couldn't blame him after what he and Maxie had done to Lulu. He had stabbed Jerry Jax; Spinelli understood that, too, after the hostage crisis, but these actions were so unlike gentle Prince Nikolas that Spinelli found it hard to believe the kind Prince and the angry man who did all these things were the same person.

"Fair Lulu has no idea her brother's been having these blackouts?" he asked, concerned.

"No, and I know you're gonna wanna tell her; don't, not yet. She'll just get worried or angry and I know how you get when she's upset with you. I need you focused."

"Understood."

Besides not wanting Lulu to be upset with him for prying into her brother's business, or him and Jason for even suspecting that Nikolas would ever hurt Emily, he didn't want to worry her needlessly. If Nikolas didn't kill Emily, Spinelli didn't want to cast suspicion on him. If he had, it was because of a medical condition, which he had apparently been trying to resolve for weeks. But it wasn't Spinelli's place to tell her if that was the case; it was Nikolas's, or someone else in her family.

A few hours later, feeling hungry, Spinelli took a lunch break and went to Kelly's. Georgie was already there with her laptop, looking at the web site Spinelli had given her containing information on Eastern Europe.

"Greetings, Faithful Friend," he said cheerfully.

She smiled up at him.

"Hi! Sit down."

He took the seat next to her.

"I hope Maxie wasn't too rude to you yesterday."

"No, she was OK."

"For Maxie," she said, frowning.

"Hey," Lulu said, smiling at him as she came over. "What can I get you, besides an orange soda?"

He smiled; she knew him too well.

"Wanna share a waffle?" he asked Georgie, who nodded with a smile.

"I'm really glad you could come yesterday," Georgie said after Lulu left to place his order.

"The Jackal was grateful for the invitation."

They talked about whatever happened to come up until the waffles were gone and Spinelli said he had to leave to go finish something for Jason. Georgie noted happily that Logan and Lulu hadn't come up once during their conversation. Neither, after their initial comments, had Maxie. For the first time since she had realized she had fallen hard for Spinelli, she was hopeful that she was making progress, and that maybe he was finally seeing her. Maybe he was finally moving past Lulu. She began to wonder when, not if, she would finally be able to tell him how she really felt.


	4. Chapter 4

Nadine tried all day not to show how nervous she was feeling. Epiphany watched her like a hawk, as always, waiting for her to start killing people like Jolene had. That was bad enough, but tonight she was going to have to give her only real friend in Port Charles a shocking piece of news. The fact that Jolene had cared about him would be good for him to know; she was sure of that, but the fact that he was most likely the father of Jolene's child? How would he react? Would he believe her? Would he be angry, thinking she was trying to make him responsible for someone else's kid? What if it wasn't true? What if they hadn't slept together and Jolene had been having crazy fantasies to try to help her deal with what she was doing? Could she have been feeling guilty enough to try to imagine something good in a world filled with horrors of her own making? These questions would drive her crazy if she let them; she would just have to get through her shift and then meet him tonight as planned.

When she got home, she tried to eat something, but the butterflies in her stomach refused to leave her in peace. She put her mostly uneaten dinner in the refrigerator just as there was a knock on the door. She looked at the clock and noted that Spinelli was very punctual.

"Greetings, Fair One," he said, giving her a friendly smile, which died when he saw her worried expression.

"Hi," she said, forcing a smile.

She invited him in and they sat on the couch. She pulled out the diary. Spinelli frowned in confusion.

"I can't deny it anymore," Nadine said sadly. "Jolene really did do all those horrible things."

He saw her fighting back tears and put his hand on her shoulder.

"You need someone to talk to?" he asked gently.

"That's part of it, but there are things in here that you need to know. First, I know about your personal connection with Jolene; she wrote about you."

"She did?" he asked, trying to sound casual.

"I need to ask you a very personal question before I show this to you, and before I tell you my other news."

"OK," he said hesitantly.

"Did you sleep with my sister?"

Spinelli was silent for a few seconds, feeling like a child who had just been caught doing something bad. What would Nadine think of him now? He couldn't lie to her; even if he wasn't a bad liar, she didn't deserve to be lied to, and besides, he knew without reading it that the proof was in the diary.

"Yes," he said quietly.

He was relieved to see that she didn't look angry, but confused that her face looked even more worried.

"Nadine, what's wrong?"

"First I need you to read the passages I've marked for you, then I'll tell you what's going on. I really think you need to know what she wrote in here before I tell you the rest of it, the part I didn't find out until yesterday."

Spinelli accepted the diary and turned to the first highlighted passage. He wasn't surprised to see that her first impression of him was not far from what most people thought; strange, but harmless. As he read on, he realized she had seen his good qualities, even if she did think he was strange. His comforting words on the anniversary of her father's death had made her like him even more. He saw that it was her job for MedCam that had prevented her from becoming more personally involved with him. She hadn't wanted to involve him in any way if she was caught.

He was gratified to know she felt guilty about the elevator, but his gratification was dampened by the fact that she was feeling guilty because she had inadvertently caused him to blame himself, not because the mother of the Charmed One had died. He felt sad and angry at Jolene's calice attitude regarding the new mother she had killed and the innocent child she had left with only a father who didn't' seem to have his daughter's best interests at heart, but only wanted to keep her from being raised by Dr. Robin .

Jolene described in detail her seduction of him and why she had done it. He was relieved to know that she hadn't done it only to distract him, although that had been the main reason.

"He wasn't kidding when he said he didn't have much experience," she had written, "but I was glad to teach him. He's smart, funny, sweet and attentive. I only wish I could pursue a relationship with him outside the hospital. As it is, I had to tell him no one could know. I hate having to play with him like this; he's become the only bright spot in a world that's been filled with darkness since those doctors killed Dad."

Nadine watched his face anxiously as he read, wishing she could read his mind. When he finished, he looked up at her with an unreadable expression.

"She did care," he said quietly.

His tone was matter of fact; he was having so many conflicting feelings that none of them were really coming to the surface. He was glad she had cared and that he wasn't just a means to an end. She had saved him because she had genuinely cared about him. He was thankful that sleeping with him had not been a game, but still angry that she had faked interest in Stone Cold. Why couldn't she had just told him it wouldn't work instead of trying to make a date with his mentor? But what she had done to him personally was nothing compared to all the pain she caused the hospital and all her innocent victims.

"Did I tell you she saved my life when she got shot?"

Nadine shook her head. Regina Thomson had told her, but she knew Spinelli needed to talk this out with her.

"She jumped in front of me after I threw my laptop at one of the shooters. He was gonna shoot me and Jolene threw herself in front of me. I spent days visiting her, hoping she'd wake up and tell me why she saved me after hurting and killing all those innocent people. After sleeping with me and then seeming to go back and forth between me and Stone Cold, who wasn't even interested in her, I couldn't understand. Formidable Nurse Epiphany was wrong; she honestly did care and that was why she saved me. It wasn't just because she'd been caught and figured she had nothing else to lose."

"About her sleeping with you," Nadine said, thinking that she had to tell him now or she never would; she would lose her nerve. "There's something you need to know."

"This is what you found out yesterday?"

"Yes, it's what made me have to read the diary in the first place. I'd been putting it off for weeks, but after what I found out yesterday I had to read it because there was something I needed to know, and now you need to know, too."

She knew she was rambling and forced herself to stop. Spinelli waited patiently, knowing instinctively that this was hard for her.

"She's pregnant," she said finally, "and from what's in this diary, it looks like you're the father."


	5. Chapter 5

Spinelli stared at her in shock. Jolene was pregnant? That had never even occurred to him. When he'd found out she'd deceived him he had been tested for sexually transmitted diseases and everything had come back negative. He would have to go back in a few more months for a follow-up HIV test, but he was reasonably confident that it would also be negative. But the possibility of pregnancy had not occurred to him, especially after Jolene had been shot. Epiphany had told him she wasn't expected to wake up; he had never once thought of the possibility that there might be a baby, his baby, growing inside her even as she lay hooked up to the machines that were keeping her, and now the baby, alive.

"Why didn't it occur to me?" he thought now. "I mean, there was no time for protection; I didn't plan to sleep with her. Why did I automatically think pregnancy was impossible, that she was on the pill or something?"

The answer came almost immediately. Jolene was a nurse. Of course she would know the consequences of what they had done; he had no reason to think she wouldn't have protected herself before sleeping with someone she barely knew. That didn't excuse his part in it, he knew; there was no excuse for his carelessness, but it did answer his question.

"Dr. Lee was running a gynecological checkup on her," Nadine said after giving him a minute or two to process this news. "She had scheduled it before she was shot and Kelly took the opportunity to run it just to be safe, in case she wakes up. She's eleven weeks pregnant."

Spinelli did a quick mental count backwards, then nodded. That was the right time.

"I have to be the father," he said numbly.

The prospect terrified him. He could have a child in the very near future. Was he ready? He would have to be. He was not going to fail his child. He or she had not been expected, but Spinelli was determined that his son or daughter would have the best life he could give him or her. His baby was going to be happy, healthy and loved.

"It looks that way, but for your own protection, I would suggest a DNA test."

She was trying to be detached and talk to him the way she would talk to a patient.

"Do I need to schedule an appointment for that?"

"We could do it here," she said, relieved that he was cooperating without protest. Some guys would have bolted immediately, not wanting the responsibility of an unplanned pregnancy. "I mean, I can swab your mouth and bring the sample to the lab, then if you're the father we can take it from there."

Spinelli raised his eyebrows.

"Take it from there? Take what from there? I mean-"

"As her next of kin, I'm supposed to make a decision whether or not to abort, but I didn't want to do that without finding out who the father was and getting his input. If you're not the father, I have to try to keep looking."

"If I am the father, I don't want to abort. If the baby is mine, I'm gonna take whatever steps are necessary to become a responsible father in-" he paused, doing another quick count in his head. "In six and a half months."

Nadine felt a wave of gratitude and affection.

"You're a good man, Spinelli," she said, kissing his forehead impulsively. "If my niece or nephew is yours, I know you'll be a good father."

Spinelli didn't remember leaving Nadine's apartment; He remembered her swabbing his mouth for the test, then the next thing he knew he was standing in front of the Quartermaine mansion and Alice was escorting him in to see Lulu. He had instinctively gone to her first without even realizing it.

Lulu was sitting on the couch watching TV when he walked in. She looked up with a smile, but jumped up in concern when she saw the look on his face. He was very pale and he looked as if a strong wind would blow him over.

"What's wrong?" she asked, alarmed. "You look terrible!"

She led him over to the couch and sat down with him.

"Jolene's pregnant," he said in a far away voice, "and there's a strong possibility that I'm the father."

"What? Wait a minute! Wait a minute! How did you get from being an acquaintance introducing me as your girlfriend to that point in such a short time?"

Spinelli sighed. This was going to be a long story.

Lulu stared at him, clearly appalled, when he was finished. He had begun with the elevator and the delivery of the Charmed One and finished with the shooting, including Jolene's fake interest in Stone Cold. He was afraid it was his part in everything that had appalled her, but her words allayed his fear.

"How could she do that to you! How could she do any of what she did! OK, she was paid to cause all those accidents; that was her motive there, but no one paid her to hurt you! And why didn't you come to me? You were hurting and I'm your friend; I could have-"

"Blonde One, you were barely speaking to me then. You were angry with me for telling Stone Cold about the Unworthy One's behavior at the coffee house. Besides, how could I come to you and tell you about sleeping with Jolene when you know how I feel about you? I basically cheated on you, even if we're not together. What right did I have to-"

"Spinelli, I was treating you horribly then, and even if I wasn't, I was with Logan! Why wouldn't you have the right to move on? Why wouldn't you turn to someone else?"

"Part of me felt the same way," he admitted.

She put her arms around him and pulled him into a tight hug.

"Jolene was no more worthy of you than Logan was of me."

"Was?" Spinelli asked, hugging her back and trying to hide his hope that she had finally dumped the Simian One.

"I'm still learning to trust him, but I'm no where near all the way there yet. I'm giving him a chance to become worthy of me, but the next time he blows it, he blows it for good."

"If he hurts you again-" he began with obvious concern and anger.

"I promise to come to you, or Carly, or one of my brothers instead of going off somewhere alone, and if I don't come to you I'll call you and let you know I'm OK. Don't worry; I've learned my lesson about hitchhiking."

"Good," he said with a sigh of relief.

After a few seconds of silence, he told her about Jolene's diary.

"Then she honestly did care for you?"

"It would appear that way."

"then why did she treat you so badly!"

"MedCam," he said simply.

"She slept with you for money?" she asked angrily. "She's no better than a prostitute!"

Spinelli forced away the impulse to tell her that Logan and Maxie were no better than prostitutes either. They had both agreed to do something for sex. Maxie could say she only did it to hurt Lulu until she was blue in the face, but she had given her body to Logan to get him to do what he wanted. Logan had slept with Lulu for the dubious pleasure of sleeping with Maxie. No money had changed hands, but it was prostitution all the same.

"Spinelli," she asked, concerned now, "what are you gonna do if this baby is yours?"

"I'm gonna raise it," he said without hesitation. "I'm gonna have a lot of big decisions to make in the next few months; I'm gonna have to make a lot of big changes, but I'll do it for my child. I'm going to be a good father."

"But you don't have to," she said cautiously. "Spinelli, you didn't ask to father a child with someone who-"

"The baby didn't asked to be the product of a one night stand either. I won't punish him or her for Jolene's and my actions."

Seeing the hurt look on Lulu's face, he realized how harsh he had sounded and that he hadn't explained himself very well. Lulu had terminated an unwanted pregnancy and he had just made it sound as if he faulted her for it.

"You had an abortion because you honestly believed that it was best for all concerned, including the baby. But you also had the option to speak with the father and find out what he wanted. You weighed all the options and decided on what you believed was the best one; you followed your heart. I'm doing the same thing, but I don't have the option to speak to Jolene. I'm the one responsible for this decision if this baby is mine. Nadine is Jolene's next of kin, but she knows I have a say in this if I'm the father and doesn't want to take my rights away by making a unilateral decision."

"And if you're not the father?"

"Then she'll keep looking. I don't know what she'll do if she doesn't find him; I can't get past the possibility, the likelihood, that it's me. She didn't mention anyone else but me in her diary."

"You're gonna do a DNA test then?"

He nodded.

"Nadine took a sample before I left and she's taking it to the lab. We should know in about a week."

"Well, whatever happens, you have my support," she said, hugging him again.

"Thank you, Blonde One," he said gratefully, hugging her back.

As he let her go, they heard Edward and Monica begin to argue over Jason's responsibility for what had happened to Emily. To their surprise, it didn't sound like Edward blamed him, but Monica apparently did.

"Let's get out of here," Lulu said quietly. "Too much drama my first day back."

Spinelli wanted to go defend Jason to Monica, but thought it would be wiser to follow Lulu's advice. The last thing he wanted to do was upset a grieving mother any further. He stood up, thinking with mixed feelings that a single night, a single moment, could change everything forever.


	6. Chapter 6

"What happens if the baby is yours?" Jason asked when Spinelli told him.

He thought he would have to get used to being asked this question for the next week or so. He gave the same answer he'd given Lulu.

"Are you sure about this?" Jason asked. "Are you absolutely sure you're physically, financially and emotionally capable of raising a child?"

"I live simply; I have a lot saved up from the money you give me each week, not to mention some of the money I earned from Evil Al. I'm not in school, so I don't need text books anymore, and I haven't used pot in a year, since I moved in with you. To tell you the truth, I don't miss the pot. I had no idea how much it messed up my thinking until I was without it for a while. Physically, I will be ready by the time the baby comes. As for emotionally, I can love my child unconditionally. I know it's gonna take a lot more than just love; I know I'm gonna need to be emotionally prepared for anything. If the baby's mine, I'm fully prepared to do whatever I have to do to be a good, responsible father, including taking parenting classes."

"You do know you're not gonna find all the answers online."

"Definitely."

"Jason, I think we're getting ahead of ourselves," Lulu said. She had come back to the house with Spinelli when Edward and Monica had started arguing. Aside from needing to get away from the mansion for an hour or two, she wanted to be there as moral support when Spinelli gave the news of his possible fatherhood to Jason. "First we need to get the test results back and find out if Spinelli really is the father. Considering everything else Jolene did, I wouldn't put it past her to try to trap Spinelli into raising a kid that isn't even his."

"Maybe," Spinelli said thoughtfully, "but I don't think so. It just feels right that I'm the father. But The Jackal will do as The Blonde One suggests; I won't make any decisions until the results come back."

The next week was torture for Spinelli. He had told Lulu and Jason he wouldn't make any decisions until he knew one way or the other. He quickly realized he couldn't make any decisions until he was sure and that made him feel completely out of control over the situation.

He wished he could speed up time. He needed to know if he was going to be a father so he could either make the decisions that would change his life or help Nadine find the real father. It would be easier, he knew, if he wasn't the father, but if he was, he was not going to abandon his child. But how could he do anything until he knew for sure? He felt trapped in a place where he had no control over what would happen to him in the future until one little piece of paper came back and decided his fate.

Maxie and Logan didn't help matters any either; the two of them seemed to realize that he was emotionally vulnerable and took every opportunity to bate him. Maxie took every chance she could to indicate to Spinelli that Lulu and Logan were sleeping together again. Spinelli knew that wasn't true because of what Lulu had told him the day he had told her about Jolene's pregnancy.

Logan overheard one day at Kelly's, though, and decided to put in his two cents. Emily had been right; he did feel threatened by Spinelli's friendship with Lulu. If given the chance, he would wreck that friendship, but he had to do it in a way that would leave his hands clean. If Lulu found out he had tried to break up her friendship with Spinelli, he would lose her for good.

"So what if we are?" he asked both of them. "What business is it of either of yours?"

"It's none of mine, really," Maxie said, "even though I am the one who got you two together in the first place."

"Yeah, and then you tried to break us up just to hurt Lulu."

"Well, she got back at you, didn't she?" Maxie asked with a note of laughter in her voice. "she moved in with him." She indicated Spinelli with a smug smile. "Maybe she turned to him for the comfort she needed after you and I broke her heart. Is that what happened, Spinelli? Has the Jackal been holding out on us? Why don't you tell us how Fair Lulu is in bed? Why don't you give the Unworthy One the scoop on how the Blonde One really likes to be-"

Spinelli's emotional tension broke. He couldn't listen to these two anymore. Sex was not a game; it had serious consequences, as he had known before but was now learning in spades. Maxie's lies about him and Lulu finally caused him to explode. He stood up, accidentally spilling his still half full orange soda, and clenched his fists, facing Logan. Even as angry as he was, he still refused to hit a woman. But his soda had landed on Maxie's shoes, giving him a vague sense of satisfaction, even if it had been accidental.

"Enough!" he yelled through clenched teeth. "neither one of you have even the slightest bit of maturity when it comes to sex! Did you even think about the disgusting diseases you could have given Lulu, or each other? Did either of you ever think about pregnancy? When did sex become some sort of game or bargaining chip? When did it become a weapon that could be used so casually to hurt innocent people? What is wrong with you!"

He stopped, breathing hard. Georgie had been watching since Maxie had approached Spinelli and Lulu had come in for her shift just in time to hear the tail end of Maxie's last dig and see his outburst.

Georgie had known for days that something was bothering Spinelli, but he had told her he needed to make a decision, but couldn't until he found out something first. She had respected his privacy and had not pressured him for more information, but now she wished she had. Maybe she could have helped him avoid this scene.

She and Lulu approached Spinelli and his surprised antagonists at the same time. Mike had been in his office, but came out when Spinelli began to yell. Mike had never heard this normally gentle kid sound so furious. But there was something else in his voice, too. Mike thought it was fear, or anxiety, or both.

"Why are you two harassing my friend?" Lulu demanded. The question was directed mostly at Logan.

"Because they have nothing better to do," Georgie said angrily. "Guess what, guys. Bully someone often enough and they find a way to fight back."

"What are you gonna do?" Logan asked, not ready to back down when Spinelli of all people was facing him, ready for a fight. "Are you gonna hit me?"

"Stop it, Logan," Lulu said angrily. "Spinelli's been under a lot of stress lately and you're not helping. Go away."

Logan hesitated. He didn't want to make Lulu mad at him, but he didn't want Spinelli thinking he could just get away with challenging him and not backing it up either.

"Now, Logan; I mean it."

"Talk to you later?"

"Maybe," she said noncommittally. "I don't really wanna talk to you right now. Just leave Spinelli alone."

Logan turned and walked away, silently promising to get back at Spinelli for making Lulu mad at him.

"You, too, Maxie," Georgie said firmly. "You need to change your shoes before you go back to the boutique, anyway."

Maxie looked down at her shoes, then back at Spinelli, but Georgie pushed her in the direction of the door before she could say or do anything else.

"Not a word; just go."

"Everything under control here?" Mike whispered to Lulu while Georgie shoved Maxie out the door.

Lulu nodded, then went to get cleaning supplies. Mike looked at Spinelli, who gave him an apologetic smile. Mike smiled back sympathetically. He didn't know what was going on, but Maxie and Logan had obviously gotten to Spinelli in a big way. He wasn't going to hold one minor emotional outburst against him; Spinelli wasn't like Logan, who caused trouble every chance he got and then spouted a bunch of empty talk about how Lulu made him want to be a better person. "You belong with Spinelli," Mike thought at Lulu, "not that bullying coward." He patted Spinelli's shoulder, then went back into the office.

"Are you all right?" Georgie asked Spinelli as Lulu began to clean up the spilled soda.

He nodded, then sat back down with a tired sigh. He hadn't been sleeping well; the stress of waiting for the test results was giving him nightmares.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly, watching Lulu clean up the mess.

"Don't' worry about it," Georgie said. "It's you I'm worried about. Spinelli, I'm your friend; please, tell me what's going on."

"Want another one?" Lulu asked him sympathetically, indicating his empty glass, which he had reflexively grabbed to keep it from shattering on the floor when he'd spilled the soda.

"Please," Spinelli said, then turned back to Georgie.

"Does it have to do with the business?" she asked.

Spinelli shook his head. Georgie didn't know any of what had happened with him and Jolene, so he would have to tell her the whole story.

"So now I'm waiting to see if I'm the father," he finished. "If I knew for sure I could either prepare to be a father or help Nadine find the real one, but until then I can't do anything and the waiting is killing me."

He took a sip of his fresh soda, watching Georgie for her reaction.

"Is there anything I can do?" she asked quietly.

He smiled, feeling slightly silly for not telling Wise Georgie about his relationship with Jolene sooner. Why had he thought she would judge him? She had never been anything but a kind and loyal friend to him.

"Thank you, Faithful Friend, but until I know one way or the other, there's nothing to be done."

"Maybe there is," she said thoughtfully. "You said the results won't be back until Friday, right?"

He nodded.

"Well, if you are the father, are you still gonna live with Jason?"

He shook his head, surprising Lulu. It hadn't occurred to her that his being a father meant that he would have to move.

"I haven't said anything to Stone Cold yet because there may be no need, but for several reasons, I won't raise my child under his roof."

Lulu knew some of those reasons and gave him a mental thumbs up sign. Neither of them thought it would be fair for one of them to raise their child under Jason's roof when his child wasn't living there. If Lulu was pregnant and still living with him, she would have made the same decision.

Georgie, not knowing about Jake, thought it was because of Jason's dangerous business and was relieved that Spinelli would take himself out of that situation if it was in the best interests of his child. After all, with or without a child, she believed not living with Jason was in Spinelli's best interests.

"Well, you're gonna need to find a place for you and your baby, if it's yours, to live. Why don't you go online and start looking now, just in case. It'll keep you busy and pass the time until you get the results back; you'll be taking action and doing something to help you move forward."

"Yes," he said happily, "by the time we get the results back I could have an idea of where to go and what to do about my living arrangements, if need be! Thank you!"

He gave her a big hug. She smiled, hugging him back, glad she could take away at least some of his anxiety.

"Can I help?" she asked.

"Of course," he said, grinning at her. "It was your idea, and a brilliant one at that!"

Lulu smiled as she went to wait on Scott Baldwin, who had just come in and sat at his usual table, table three. She had had a feeling for a while now that Georgie wanted to be with Spinelli. Maybe this would give them the chance they both so richly deserved to be happy.


	7. Chapter 7

Spinelli woke the day of Emily's funeral feeling congested. "What a day to get sick," he thought irritably. "Stone Cold needs me; I don't have time to be sick."

He had breakfast, dressed for the funeral and looked at more of the footage from the ball while he waited for Stone Cold. He had left a note saying he'd gone to the hospital to see Mr. Corinthos, Sir, but that he wanted Spinelli to compile a list of everyone who was unaccounted for at the ball during the time of Emily's death and when Carly was strangled. Spinelli hoped it wouldn't be a long list. Jason needed to know who had killed his sister, and if the killer was still loose, he needed to be stopped.

Jason walked in during a coughing fit and watched Spinelli. The kid was obviously fighting something nasty.

"You OK?"

"I'm fine,"

Jason knew it was a lie.

"If you're not feeling good, maybe you should go back to bed."

"No, the Jackal would not feel comfortable abandoning his duty as your most trusted and loyal friend, especially today of all days. Shouldn't you get ready for the funeral?"

"I'm not going," he said, surprising Spinelli. "Monica doesn't want me there."

"But you're all she has left. I would think that would make your presence necessary."

Jason shook his head.

"She blames me for Emily's death because Zacchara was in the business."

"But you had no idea he was gonna be at the ball."

"It doesn't matter. Monica doesn't want me at the funeral and I respect her wishes."

Spinelli knew better than to argue. There was a lot he wanted to say, but it wouldn't help the situation; it would only serve to make Jason feel worse and maybe make him angry.

"Would you object if I went?"

"No, I know you respected Emily. I think she'd be glad you were there."

Spinelli went to the pharmacy for some cold medicine about an hour before the service and took the first dose. He didn't want to start coughing and sneezing during the service. That was as unforgivable to him as someone laughing at a funeral.

He felt horrible for Elizabeth as he watched her give the eulogy. She looked as if she wanted to be sick and Spinelli wondered how she was managing to stay in control. He admired her calm and poise during such a painful task; he knew he wouldn't have been able to stand up for one of his best friends under the same circumstances.

When she mentioned Jason's name, she looked over to the vestibule. No one else seemed to notice, but Spinelli followed her gaze and saw Jason standing there, listening to the service. Spinelli looked away quickly, not wanting to draw attention to him; he knew it was the only way Jason could be there to honor his sister. As angry as his mother was, she might cause a scene and that was the last thing Spinelli wanted for anyone, especially Emily and Jason.

He thought it better just to go home and not attend the reception. He didn't know if he was contagious and the cold medicine he'd taken before was wearing off. He extended his sympathies to the Quartermaines on his way out of the church. Monica looked at him, but didn't say anything. Edward, Tracey and Dillon thanked him quietly and Nikolas nodded absently.

Spinelli suddenly wondered how he would cope if something happened to the woman he was going to marry. A small part of him still hoped that would be Lulu, but the rest of him knew that would probably never happen. To his surprise, the woman in his head with the wedding dress had brown hair like Georgie's. "It must be the cold," he thought. "It's messing with my mind. I've got my two friends confused because my head is all foggy."

"Spinelli," Dillon said suddenly, "can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure," he said, leading him outside.

"This is kind of awkward," Dillon said. "I-"

He broke off, looking as if he wasn't quite sure how to begin.

"I know we're not exactly friends, but-"

Spinelli decided to let go of his animosity towards Dillon. Neither of them had won the Blonde One's heart and if there was one thing Emily's death had taught him, it was that life was too short for grudges. Logan was another story, but for totally different reasons. Every instinct in Spinelli screamed that Logan would hurt Lulu again. Dillon had been a kid when he'd cheated on Georgie with Lulu and then treated the Blonde One so badly during her pregnancy and after the abortion. Spinelli had matured a lot in the year he'd been friends with Stone Cold and the Blonde One; maybe Dillon had also matured while he was away.

"The only real problem I had with you was that we were competing to win Fair Lulu's affections. She chose neither of us; I propose we let it go."

"Agreed," Dillon said, smiling and holding out his hand.

They shook and Dillon looked at him, obviously trying to figure out how to phrase what he wanted to say.

"I know I didn't always act like it, but I do care about Georgie and Lulu. In fact, Georgie's my best friend."

Spinelli nodded with a smile.

"Wise Georgie is a faithful friend to many, including The Jackal."

Dillon smiled as if Spinelli had just confirmed something.

"What?" Spinelli asked curiously.

"Well, like I said, I know we haven't exactly been friends, but aside from our former competition over Lulu, you and I have our friendship with Georgie in common."

Spinelli nodded again.

Dillon hesitated, then said, "I think you and Georgie could make each other happy."

"We do," Spinelli said, surprised. "I mean, that's part of a friend's job-"

"No, I mean as more than friends."

Spinelli stared. Him and Georgie? He had never considered it. He had told her once that he needed her to help him get past Lulu, but he hadn't meant romantically. That would have felt like using her to make Lulu jealous or as a rebound relationship and he knew that could have ruined their friendship. He didn't want to lose Georgie; he had few enough friends to know that you didn't throw them away or intentionally hurt them.

"I'm not asking you to act on what I just said," Dillon said quickly. "I'm just asking you to think about it. Georgie's single and Lulu's with that creep Logan Hayes. You're not with anyone, are you?"

"No. I was, but it didn't work out."

He didn't want to go into the details of what had happened with Jolene, but when Dillon heard of the baby, if it was his, what Spinelli had just told him would be explanation enough.

"So why shouldn't you and Georgie be happy together?"

Spinelli continued to stare. Georgie's ex-husband, a guy Spinelli had disliked on principle because the two of them had wanted the same girl, was trying to fix him up with his Faithful Friend? He felt very awkward.

"Like I said, just think about it. Georgie's a great girl and you're a nice guy. Aside from the competition for Lulu, I like you; I knew you would never hurt a woman. That time Milo and I pulled a gun on you, I admit that was really stupid. I'm sorry about that."

"It's over; don't worry about it. We were both kind of immature then."

"I still have some growing up to do," Dillon admitted.

"So do I, but I am improving, and I will think about what you've said. I can't understand why Georgie's been unattached for so long."

"Me neither. But no matter what happens with you two, I hope you're both happy; you both deserve it."

"Thank you, film-" he stopped. Film Guy had been a derogatory name meant for someone Spinelli didn't respect. Dillon wasn't that person anymore. "Thank you, Dillon."

They smiled, shaking hands again.

"Dillon," Tracey asked irritably, "are you coming?"

"Again," Spinelli said quietly, "you have my deepest sympathies."

"Thanks. See you next time I come back; I'm leaving today."

"Safe travels," Spinelli said sincerely.

On his way home, Dillon's advice kept replaying itself in Spinelli's head. But did Georgie think of Spinelli that way? The only girl who had not rejected him had been Jolene, and that had turned out to be a disaster. What if he approached Georgie and she didn't love him any more than Lulu did? Lulu did love him, as her best friend, but not romantically. What if Georgie felt the same way? Spinelli didn't want to make their relationship uncomfortable. Jason, Lulu and Georgie were the three most important people to him in Port Charles. He didn't want to lose any of them. Besides, he might have a child on the way. If Jolene's baby was his, would it be fair to ask Georgie to enter into a relationship with a ready made family? Also, Georgie would be spending a year abroad. If they got serious now, it would be harder for both of them when she had to leave. He would not hold her back for any reason. He decided he would keep Dillon's advice in mind, but for now, he would just play things by ear. Whatever happened would happen.


	8. Chapter 8

That night, Georgie came over with chicken soup. Spinelli was flattered that she had made it for him, but felt guilty about taking it away from her father. She convinced him that he was the one who needed it and he accepted, but accidentally spilled it on her when he sneezed. She had to put her clothes in the laundry, so he found a robe for her that hung in his regrettably pink room. He was surprised When Georgie told him it might have been Jax's and that the Valkyrie's husband and Stone Cold's seldom mentioned but mysterious first wife, Brenda, had once been married.

Spinelli had to stare at her when she came into the room dressed n the robe. How had he failed to notice before? She was so beautiful. He had never once thought she was ugly; no one in their right mind would think that about her, but somehow that robe made her look more beautiful than he'd ever seen her.

As they talked, he noticed something else about her. She had a romantic soul, but kept it hidden. She asked him if he really thought she was beautiful, which he did, but before he could tell her there was a knock at the door.

"Please, excuse the poorly timed interruption," he said before getting up to answer the door.

Nadine had the same idea as Georgie; she had also brought him chicken soup. But she stared in surprise and embarrassment when she saw the way Georgie was dressed.

"No," he said quickly, "this isn't how it looks. The Jackal clumsily spilled Wise Georgie's chicken soup on her clothing when he sneezed and she put her attire in the laundry; I lent her the robe until her clothes could dry."

Georgie and Nadine grinned at each other.

"This reminds me of an old sitcom I used to watch," Nadine said.

"Three's Company, right?" Spinelli asked, grinning.

"Yes."

"I remember watching reruns of that show," Georgie said, sounding amused. "This is exactly the kind of thing that would happen to them."

Nadine laughed.

"All we need is for Mr. Roper to walk in and-"

As if perfectly on queue, there was another knock at the door. This time it was Lulu. She surveyed the situation and gave Spinelli a questioning look. The three of them laughed and had to explain the situation again. Lulu nodded, but seemed preoccupied.

"I better go check on my clothes," Georgie said. Her intuition told her Lulu wanted to talk to Spinelli alone.

"I have to go," Nadine said. "I'm working the night shift. Feel better, Spinelli."

"Thank you," he said, picking up the spoon.

She closed the door behind her and Lulu looked at him thoughtfully.

"The Blonde One looks troubled," he said quietly. Then, beginning to worry, he asked, "did something happen? Is it your father?"

"No," she said quickly, "nothing like that. I-"

She broke off, starting to cry. Emily's funeral had brought up so much for her. She had gotten emotional with Carly; now she was getting emotional with Spinelli.

"What's wrong?" Spinelli asked gently.

He pushed his boll aside, moved closer and put his arm around her.

"During the funeral, when I wasn't thinking that it could have been Carly, I kept thinking about how mean I've been to you."

Spinelli opened his mouth to speak, but Lulu cut him off.

"No, please, don't defend me to myself; it'll only make me feel worse. Please, let me finish."

When he closed his mouth, she went on.

"I think that night in the barn was the worst I've ever treated you. I lied when I said Jason didn't think you could handle yourself; I was just trying to get you to do what I wanted. I was being selfish; I was being a brat. I tend to be a brat a lot with the people who care about me and you seem to get the worst of it. I knew Jason wanted you in the barn because you were good at surveillance and could help protect Nadine and Elizabeth, but I was so focused on stopping Anthony that I didn't think about what I was doing to you. I had myself convinced that I was the only one who could do what needed to be done. Part of it was because I felt responsible for him being there, but a lot of it was the hero complex I inherited from my parents. I wanted to be the one to stop the bad guy and never mind that Jason and other professionals could do it better than I could. I didn't even think about the fact that I could get myself killed; I was gonna do it and God help anyone who tried to stop me, even someone who cared about me as much as you do. Nadine was right. Only my best friend would knock me unconscious in order to protect me from myself. When I saw Johnny giving Carly CPR I knew how stupid I was to even think of going after Anthony. He might have killed me if you hadn't knocked me out; it could have also been me you buried today.

Spinelli felt his heart drop down to his feet. The thought of losing Lulu, having to watch her being put in the ground the way they had with poor Emily today, made him want to be sick.

"You were so brave to do what you did; Coop and Logan told me you went with them to try to help fight. Coop said it was your idea."

Spinelli nodded, forcing the image of his best friend in a coffin out of his head.

"But it was even braver of you to do what you did in the barn. I know what it took for you to do that. I know I forced you into it and I know it hurt you a lot more than you could ever hurt me."

He nodded again. He wished she would stop crying; he hated to see her upset.

"My family doesn't deal with loss very well. We're also not good at telling people how we feel, but we are good at taking the people we love for granted. I don't wanna take you for granted anymore. It's not romantic love, Spinelli, but I do love you."

She hugged him tightly.

"I mean, it's kind of impossible not to love your best friend, right?"

"Definitely," he said quietly, returning the hug, "and I love you, too."

When she let him go, she had stopped crying, to his relief.

"Feeling better?" he asked.

She nodded, then pointed at his boll of chicken soup.

"You should eat that before it gets cold."

"Or before I sneeze and end up spilling it again," he said with an embarrassed grin.

He was happy to see her smile for the first time since she'd come in to see the sitcom scene that had played out before she had arrived.

Georgie came in from the laundry room dressed in her normal clothes and watched Lulu and Spinelli. Lulu had obviously been crying. Spinelli was subdued, but he didn't look upset.

"Is everything OK?" she asked.

"Yeah," Lulu and Spinelli said together.

"I have to go," Lulu said. "I'm going to meet Logan for dinner."

"Have fun," Spinelli said.

"Bye," Georgie said.

"See you tomorrow," she said to both of them before closing the door.

"Did something happen to Luke?" Georgie asked with concern.

"No, it's just been an emotional day. She just needed to talk."

He looked at her thoughtfully. Maybe Dillon was right. But how could he approach the subject. He didn't want her to think he was choosing her because Lulu didn't want him. But did Georgie want him? Was Dillon right? Maybe he should just take things slowly, not push things, just play it by ear. He decided to start by honestly answering her previous question.

"She said she loved me, but not romantically."

Georgie put her hand on his shoulder and looked at him sympathetically.

"It's OK," he said honestly. "I'm not upset. I had almost completely come to accept it, but now I have. I'm OK with just being friends with the Blonde One."

"Are you really?" she asked quietly.

"Yes. The Demented Denison of Darkness had originally come to Wyndemere to kill Fair Lulu because he thought she was dating The Septic Son. She wanted to draw him out. She tried everything to get The Jackal to go along with it. I could have lost her; it could have been lulu we were burying today, maybe even along with Emily. If I have to choose between having her as just a friend and not having her at all, I'll take friendship over romance any day."

Georgie was horrified that Lulu would use herself as bate to draw a killer out, but not surprised. It was something Luke would do, after all; it was very Spencer of her.

"About what you asked me before," Spinelli began. "The answer is most definitely yes."

She looked at him blankly.

"I really do think you're beautiful."

Georgie's face lit up like a Christmas tree. Spinelli smiled as he finished his soup. No girl had ever looked at him like that before. That look, the fact that he'd been able to make Georgie that happy, brightened up this awful day. He knew their friendship and potential romance was not important to Port Charles as a whole, but for Spinelli, that look was the image he would use to remember something good about a day filled with sadness. His smile widened as he thought of Lulu and Nadine. The three of them had shown him how much they cared about him tonight. Having friends like them and Stone Cold, Spinelli knew he could handle anything.


	9. Chapter 9

Spinelli woke two days later feeling uneasy, but he couldn't understand why. It wasn't physical; his cold was fading. It was a gut feeling that something was going to happen. Then he remembered. The test results would be in today.

He wondered if he should call the hospital. Thinking that Nadine would call him when the results came in, he decided against it. Nurse Johnson was frequently annoyed by his presence, like a lot of people seemed to be, and he didn't want to seem like a pest. He never meant to be a pest, but somehow that was frequently what he managed to do. He decided instead to focus on compiling the list of everyone who was unaccounted for at Wyndemere the night of the black and white ball. Not only did Stone Cold need to find his sister's killer, but if by some chance someone else other than Prince Nikolas or the Demented Denison of Darkness had killed Noble Emily, Spinelli didn't want anyone else to be hurt.

As he looked over the completed list before giving it to Stone Cold, the entire nightmare from his perspective replayed in his mind. He hoped it had been Zacchara who had killed Emily because if it hadn't been, someone he knew might have. It was possible that Johnny had strangled her, but that didn't feel right to Spinelli. He considered carefully the possibility that his judgment might be impaired by his feelings of hatred and jealousy for the Unworthy One, who had originally suggested that Johnny was Emily's killer. His first impulse was to discount anything Logan said on principle. He knew that was not the Stone Cold way, but hadn't managed to master total objectivity yet.

Even forcing his hatred for Logan aside, Johnny still didn't feel like the killer. Why would he come to save Lulu only to kill someone he didn't even know? That left Nikolas, or Anthony, or someone else no one had even considered yet. Anthony was insane; he killed for the fun of it, and he was Stone Cold and Mr. Corinthos, Sir's enemy, so it would make sense for him to kill someone they loved just to try to intimidate them.

The killer had also gone after the Valkyrie, but Anthony was threatening Stone Cold and the Maternal One at the time she was strangled, and Johnny had saved her. Lulu had seen him try to save her and he had seen the strangler fleeing the scene. Spinelli shook his head decisively. Jealousy of the Crabby Commando aside, Johnny was not a logical suspect.

There were times when Logan had been unaccounted for, supposedly looking for Anthony, or Lulu, or doing something else. Spinelli forced himself not to dwell on Logan's absences, knowing he couldn't be impartial. Logan had beaten him up, forced a kiss on Lulu, grabbed her, Nadine and the Valkyrie and cheated on Lulu with Maxie. Spinelli had overheard someone at Kelly's talking once about how Logan had slammed Maxie against a wall the day after Lulu found out about their bet. Logan did have a history of violence, but Spinelli knew intellectually that that didn't necessarily make him a killer. But Carly wanted Logan to stay away from Lulu and Emily had yelled at him earlier that night for bullying Spinelli. But again, that wasn't proof that he had tried to hurt either of them. Spinelli hated to admit it, even only to himself, but his instincts also argued against Logan being the killer.

The Clean Cut Cadet had been absent for much of the ball, but Spinelli had no reason to think he was the killer. Where was his motive? If it had been Logan, he had motive, but there was no proof that he had opportunity.

Johnny had been known to pull out a gun without provocation, but he would have had no reason to kill Emily, and Spinelli thought if he had he would have used his gun; there would have been no need to strangle her. His only motive, aside from the fact that he wasn't completely sane, although he was much better than his father, would not really have been a motive at all. Spinelli and Jason had surprised him the day they found him in the barn with Lulu and he had pulled out his gun. If Emily had surprised him in the ball room, he might have threatened her with the gun, but Spinelli seriously doubted he would have strangled her.

He hoped it wasn't Nikolas. He couldn't imagine living with the guilt of killing someone he loved, even if he didn't remember and wasn't in his right mind when he did it. As well as the fact that Nikolas was Lulu's brother, Spinelli didn't want him to have to go to prison for something he didn't even remember doing.

Lucky had been absent for a while, but he would never kill Emily; they were best friends. Lucky wouldn't hurt Emily anymore than Spinelli would hurt lulu.

That thought gave him a pang of guilt. He had hurt her, but only to keep her from getting herself killed. She had forgiven him and admitted that she'd forced him to do that, but he prayed she would never put him in that position again.

Spinelli had been in the stable with Elizabeth and Nadine, then Stone Cold had brought Lulu. Logan had come briefly to take Lulu to see her sick father. Georgie and Maxie had been in the North Parlor after the Ball Room until Coop had brought them to the stables. Then Spinelli, Coop and Logan had gone to try to help fight. Somehow Spinelli had gotten separated from the others when they had run after distracting the evildoers. By the time he had found his way back to the main entrance, the helicopters had come.

With everything else going on, the cops asking questions, the medical personnel helping the sick and injured and finding Nadine to make sure she was safe, it had never occurred to him to ask Logan or Coop where they'd gone after they'd been separated. Apparently Logan had told Lulu's father and stepmother what had happened to Emily, but Spinelli had no idea where Coop had gone. But again, there was no reason to suspect Cooper of being the strangler.

Spinelli gave the list to Stone Cold when he came down for breakfast and discussed it with him. His mentor seemed surprised that Spinelli didn't suspect Logan, but said he was glad he realized his objectivity was compromised and took that into consideration. When the discussion was over, they still only had the two logical suspects, Nikolas and Anthony, and maybe Johnny. Jason wasn't ready to discount him yet, until they had real evidence that proved inconclusively that he was or was not, the killer.

Just after Stone Cold left to discuss the list with Mr. Corinthos, Sir, Spinelli's cell rang. It was Nadine. The results were in and she asked if she could come over.

He waited nervously, trying to focus on his video game. His mind wouldn't stay in one place. It seemed like forever before she knocked, but he knew it had only been a few minutes.

"Hi," she said, looking as nervous as he felt.

He smiled at her and motioned for her to come in.

Nadine didn't know why she felt so nervous. Spinelli was a good man and would make a great dad, if he was the dad. But if he wasn't, who was? Would she be able to find him? What would she do if she couldn't?

That was the reason for her nervousness, she decided. She wasn't sure she could abort Jolene's baby, but she didn't know if she could raise a baby on her own either, especially one that wasn't hers. But how could she put her sister's baby up for adoption; the baby was still family and didn't ask for Jolene to do any of what she did,. He or she especially didn't ask to be conceived accidentally.

If Spinelli was the father, he had already told her he wanted to raise the baby and was prepared to do whatever was necessary to prepare to be a father. What if she found the father, if it wasn't Spinelli, and he didn't want anything to do with his kid?

"Never mind that for now," she ordered herself in her professional voice. She was startled to find the professional voice in her head had taken on tones of Epiphany. "Just open the envelope and find out the results of this test; you and Spinelli will both feel better once you find out one way or the other. Quit speculating and just do it."

Spinelli watched her face carefully as she read the results and was surprised at the relief he saw there. What did that mean? Was he or was he not the father? Was she glad he wasn't? He discarded that thought almost immediately. She had kissed his forehead and told him that if he was the father, he would be a good one. She wouldn't have told him that if she didn't believe it. After all, this was her niece or nephew.

She smiled up at him and showed him the paper.

"There's no doubt about it, Spinelli. There is a 99.98 percent chance. You're the father of my sister's baby."


	10. Chapter 10

Spinelli's face lit up, causing Nadine to hug him impulsively. He was glad he was the father. She saw traces of anxiety, too, but overall, he was obviously thrilled that he was going to have a child.

"Thank you," he said with relief. "Now I know what I need to do."

"What's that?"

"Well, for starters, I need another place to live for me and my progeny. I've been looking online at potential apartments for the past few days, just in case."

"You're not staying with Jason?"

"No, I wouldn't feel right raising a baby under his roof."

"Because of his alleged mobster status?"

"Because he had a little girl who died. It would feel wrong for me to raise my child under his roof when his is gone."

He decided to tell her about Sam's baby rather than baby Jake; that was still not publicly known and Spinelli didn't want to cause trouble by telling Nadine before Stone Cold and The Maternal One decided their future.

He showed her some of the places he liked. She liked his choices. One of the apartments was in her building and she offered to go with him to see it. He accepted gladly.

"When do you think you'll move out of here?"

"I was thinking after the holidays. That'll give me plenty of time to prepare the baby's room, not to mention get use to living completely on my own. That's gonna be a weird experience. I lived with my Granny in Tennessee, then at the dorm, then here with Stone Cold, and for a while Samantha lived here, too."

"Sam McCaul?"

Spinelli nodded.

"She and Stone Cold were together for a while."

"Before Elizabeth?"

He looked at her cautiously.

"She said in the barn while you were with Lulu that she and Jason were in love, but that there were complications. Was Sam one of those?"

"I don't' feel I can discuss that without breaking Stone cold's confidence."

"Fair enough," she said, giving him an affectionate smile. "Everyone should have a friend like you, Spinelli."

He returned the smile, then invited her to Kelly's for something to eat.

Lulu was working at Kelly's and he told her about the test results and about his plan to leave Casa De Stone Cold.

"Does Jason know yet?"

Spinelli shook his head.

"I'm gonna tell him later today when I see him."

Georgie walked in and saw Nadine sitting with Spinelli. She wondered if she should go over and greet them. Were they on another date? Apparently not, because Spinelli saw her and motioned for her to come over with a big smile.

"Hi," she said happily. She looked at Nadine, then back at Spinelli. "Did you get the results?"

"The baby is mine," he said happily.

Then he turned to Nadine as he put a hand on Georgie's shoulder.

"It was Wise Georgie who suggested The Jackal start looking for apartments now while he waited for the results. I was going crazy waiting; I had a melt down right here in the middle of Kelly's a few days ago. The Faithful Friend possesses beauty, kindness, wisdom and keen intellect."

Georgie gave him the smile she had when he had told her she was beautiful. That smile was enough to brighten Spinelli's worst day. Seeing it on a good day only made him feel that much better.

Later, Spinelli surprised Jason with the news that he was leaving, and with his reasons why. He had to admit they all made sense. Spinelli didn't say that his child could be exposed to violence if he or she grew up here, and Jason knew he probably didn't even think it because he knew Sonny had managed to keep his children safe, for the most part. But Spinelli hadn't been in Port Charles when all three of Sonny's kids had been kidnapped and everyone had thought Michael was dead. For Spinelli's sake, as well as the baby's, Jason was glad his friend was distancing himself from him to this extent. There had been times when he had wanted to make him leave for his own safety. He had begun to talk about it when the possibility of war with Zacchara had come up, but had either been interrupted by other matters, or visitors, or Spinelli had said he wouldn't abandon him. Jason was relieved that it had taken the possibility of fatherhood, and not something violent and potentially lethal, to make Spinelli strike out on his own.

"I'm proud of you," Jason said quietly. "Not many guys your age would take responsibility for a kid they didn't plan for, especially under these circumstances."

Spinelli smiled.

"Well, it was about time the Jackal grew up, anyway," he said with a quiet nervous laugh. "I've never understood how someone could make a baby and then leave the mother alone to raise it. I mean, it was different for you and Elizabeth because she was gonna be with Lucky at the time and you thought Jake would be safer away from you, but most guys, especially those my age, treat sex like something to entertain themselves and never think of the consequences. I let myself get distracted by the pleasure, not only physically, but the emotional pleasure of knowing the Falsely Fair Jolene wanted the Jackal. I can't let my child pay for my carelessness. No child should be abandoned just because his or her parents didn't plan on being parents."

"You're right." Jason gave him a rare smile. "You're gonna be a great dad."

"I learned from you," he said seriously. "I mean, you did what you thought was best for your son. You and Elizabeth sacrificed your own desires so Jake and Cameron could have the life you wanted them to have. My being a single father won't be the best situation, but my baby will never lack for love, and neither does baby Jake."

Jason looked from Spinelli to the computer screen, where the picture of the apartment Nadine was going to show him in her building was displayed. Spinelli had wanted Stone Cold's opinion.

"I know you need to move in before the baby's born, but you don't have to leave so soon, Spinelli; I mean, that's months away."

Spinelli explained his reasons for leaving so soon and Jason couldn't disagree.

"I'm gonna miss having yah here," he said.

"I'll miss you, too."

They shared a brief hug, then Jason's cell rang. It was Detective Harper, asking him to come down to the station to go over his statement. Jason agreed, then gave Spinelli a quick smile before picking up his keys and heading for the door.


	11. Chapter 11

A few days later, Jason told Spinelli he was going to see Elizabeth to discuss their future. Spinelli waited hopefully for him to come back and say he was finally going to take the chance and be happy with his true love. But when Jason got back, he told Spinelli that Lucky wanted to continue as Jake's father and that Elizabeth had accepted and Stone Cold had agreed.

Spinelli couldn't believe what he was hearing. He had never felt more frustrated in his life.

"You can't be serious! After all that, after the truth comes out like we hoped and we're back to this? That's ridiculous!"

"We've been over this a hundred times, Spinelli!" Jason said angrily.

"Of that I am well aware, but-"

He stopped and took a breath. Part of his frustration was due to the fact that he was about to become a single father. Stone Cold was separating himself from his child and the woman he loved. Spinelli didn't have a choice where the woman was concerned, but he couldn't imagine being separated willingly from his son or daughter. But he needed to discuss this calmly.

"I'm honored that you share your confidence with me, but please honor me by heeding my advice? You and Elizabeth are in love, right?"

"This is not about me; it's about Jake."

"I know you wanna keep him safe, but Mr. Corinthos, Sir, has kept his kids safe for-""

Don't even get into the whole 'Sonny keeping his kids safe' speech! Leticia was strangled. Those kids could be a target. We don't know that, and if Sonny could protect them, they could still end up damaged like Johnny Zacchara. Elizabeth doesn't want that for Jake and neither do I."

Spinelli said nothing. He wanted to come up with an argument supporting Jason and Elizabeth's union, but couldn't. In this business, there were just too many unknown factors. Spinelli wasn't worried about connecting his child to the business; he was only their tech support and had learned to be content with that. Stone cold and Mr. Corinthos , Sir, killed some of their enemies, which made targets of the people they loved.

"The work I do for Sonny is all I know," Stone Cold said quietly. "It's too late for me to get out of the organization, but I can choose not to inflicted on Jake."

"Then, Stone Cold's choice is sadly made," Spinelli said, resigned.

"You know what the problem is? I never thought about the future; I never thought about what I'd have to give up."

"I wish I could convince you to claim your son and build a future with Elizabeth, but I admit your reasoning does have a certain irrefutable logic."

"I chose this life. You don't' have to choose this life, Spinelli. Think about other options while you can because the longer you stay in, the harder it is to get out."

Spinelli understood his point, but his loyalty prevented him from thinking about leaving. He knew he and Stone Cold would not stop being friends if Spinelli decided to leave the organization, but Spinelli was accepted and valued here. Mr. Corinthos, Sir, didn't like him very much; that was true, but Stone Cold had never once judged him unfairly. Stone Cold never thought he was weird or crazy. Aside from limited experiences with guns, explosives and picking locks, Jason had taught him things that had helped him to grow as a person. If not for Stone Cold, for example, he might have gotten sick after mixing vodka with orange soda. He never could have found Lulu on his own after she had hitchhiked that night. Aside from his association with Stone Cold, Spinelli didn't consider himself a true part of the mob. His weapon of choice was his computer and his battleground was cyberspace.

"Stone Cold's friendship has been an honor and a privilege for the Jackal," he said after a few seconds. "You accept me as the unique individual that I am very much like Mr. Corinthos, Sir, trusts you and although my work is of a less physical nature, I think I've been of some use. Yes?"

"Absolutely, but you're a genius. You can work anywhere; you don't have to work here."

"But working for Stone Cold has been both rewarding and inspiring. Some of the things I've learned, I could never have had access to them elsewhere."

Before Jason could answer, someone knocked and Spinelli went to Kelly's, leaving Stone Cold to talk to Lucky.

Later, a conversation that had started out great with Lulu turned sour when she mentioned The Warped One, then when Logan showed up. Lulu had approached him with the subject of Johnny, but when Spinelli told her something she didn't want to hear, she invited Logan to join them, knowing that was the quickest way to get rid of Spinelli.

"Why don't you join us and tell us about your day?" Lulu asked Logan.

"I don't need to be here for this," Spinelli said, standing up and leaving.

He knew The Blonde One didn't mean to hurt him, but that didn't change the fact that she did. She would always apologize later, but there were times when Spinelli couldn't help wondering how many times this would happen. He didn't want to stop being her friend; he loved her. But there were times when he found himself wondering if she really wanted his friendship, or if she just wanted someone who would agree with whatever she said, even if he thought it could have an adverse affect on her. He couldn't be the kind of person who would pretend to be OK with something she was going to do that could cause her harm; if he could have been that person, he would never have knocked her out to keep her from going after Zacchara the night of the ball. If he had been that kind of person, Zacchara might have killed her and it would have been his fault.

He sat in the Coffee House for a while, continuing his research for Stone cold. A few minutes later, he felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Georgie standing there, looking concerned. He hadn't known it, but she had seen him at Kelly's with Lulu and wanted to try to make him feel better after Lulu had again, without a single thought to his feelings, treated him like a toy that she could take out and put away whenever she felt the need.

"What's wrong?"

"I fear The Blonde One is interested in The Warped One, Johnny Zacchara.""

"What about Logan?"

"I don't know, but either one of them could hurt her; The Unworthy One already has, more than once."

"Spinelli, I'm sorry, but Lulu makes her own choices and she should have to live with the consequences. You shouldn't have to be forced into being her conscience. Why should you try, anyway, since she never listens to you or anyone else who cares about her?"

Spinelli was surprised. Wise Georgie had never spoken so harshly of Fair Lulu before. As guilty as the thought made him feel, he had to admit that she had some valid points.

"But what kind of friend would I be if I didn't at least try to get her to see reason?"

"You're right," she sighed, sitting next to him. "I just hate seeing you get hurt every time you try to be her friend. You don't deserve that, Spinelli. You're a great friend and Lulu has no right to hurt you just for being honest."

"She always apologizes; she doesn't mean it."

"I know, but then she just goes right back to the same behavior."

He said nothing.

"Have you ever talked to her about it?"

He shook his head.

"She'll just get angry and I don't wanna hurt her."

"But it's OK for her to hurt you?"

He was silent again.

"Spinelli, friends are honest; you know that already. If you don't tell Lulu how you feel about how she treats you, then you're not being honest. If you let this keep going the way it is, you could damage your friendship just by your silence alone."

Georgie felt a pang of guilt for not taking her own advice, but she still couldn't bring herself to tell him how she really felt. She had already lost Dillon to lulu and Spinelli still had some romantic feelings for her. She knew that instinctively, in spite of what he'd said the night she'd brought over the chicken soup. She didn't think he even knew it; she thought he honestly believed what he'd said about accepting the fact that he and Lulu would never be anything more than friends. She had asked herself frequently over the past few months what the worst thing could happen was and decided that it would be for him to become romantically involved with her, but then to have Lulu become available and have him choose Lulu over Georgie.

He smiled at her. She felt a rush of relief, having been afraid he would be angry with her for speaking against Lulu.

"As always, Wise Georgie's advice is sound. You're right. I will talk with Fair Lulu and be completely honest with her. My romantic feelings for her were one-sided, but I don't think the friendship is. She's said a few of the things you did herself, the last time being the night of the ball, before she found out-"

He broke off, looking guilty.

"Before she found out what?"

"Well, she was trying to leave so she could go after The Demented Denison of Darkness and I had to knock her out with a strategic blow to her blonde head in order to keep her from rushing impetuously into danger."

She stared at him in surprise for a few seconds, then said, "good for you."

It was his turn to look surprised.

"Spinelli, I like Lulu; I really think she's basically a good person, but she's also a stubborn little brat, and there are times when she's even downright obnoxious."

Spinelli couldn't argue with that, no matter how much he wanted to, so he kept quiet.

"If that's what it took for you to keep her safe, then I'm really proud of you for having the courage to do that, even if you knew it would make her mad at you."

He smiled. Georgie always had a way of making him feel better.

"So what happened when she regained consciousness?"

He told her about his concern for her and her telling him what a good friend he was, inadvertently causing him to feel even worse about knocking her out. She had admitted to taking him for granted and getting angry with him for sharing his opinions. She had told him she knew how much he cared about her. They had hugged, and that was when Nadine walked in and accidentally told her, thinking she already knew, that Spinelli had been the one to knock her out. Lulu had gotten angry, of course, and Nadine had tried to defend Spinelli, which seemed to make The Blonde One even angrier.

"That's exactly what I mean, Spinelli; you would do anything for Lulu, even if it hurts you, and she takes advantage of that. She knows you'll always be there and she keeps pushing you and pushing you. It's not fair; no one deserves that kind of treatment. From everything I've seen, you've been a much better friend to Lulu than she's been to you. I'm sure you're right and she doesn't mean to hurt you, but you need to let her know when she's being unfair. You don't allow yourself to get angry with her and that's not fair to you either. It's not only unfair, but it's unhealthy. You're entitled to your feelings, Spinelli, and Lulu has no right to act like you're not."

He sighed.

"The Jackal is not good with confrontations."

"You don't have to confront her; just ask her to meet you so you can talk and tell her how you feel about how she treats you."

For the second time that day, one of Spinelli's conversations was interrupted, this time by his cell phone. It was Jason, asking him to come home and access Johnny Zacchara's police records.

"Thank you as always, Faithful Friend, for your sage advice," he said before leaving. "I know that Fair Lulu has a lot going on with her brothers and father, so as soon as she can make time for the Jackal, he will talk to her about the kind of friend she wants me to be, as well as the kind of friend I want her to be."

Good luck," Georgie said, giving him an encouraging smile.

As she watched him leave, she thought of Maxie. Georgie was always honest with her about her feelings about her behavior. Spinelli was right to call her the Bad Blonde One, but Maxie didn't care that she was bad. She did what she wanted and didn't care what it did to others, unless it affected her. Her latest stunt had caused her to lose Coop and that had made her feel bad because she wanted him. ""She should have thought of that before she made that stupid bet with Logan," Georgie thought angrily.

But Lulu was a good person; she just made mistakes, but she did learn from her mistakes, in most cases. But when someone who cared about her tried to give her advice, she did just the opposite of what they advised her to do. It was like she was trying to prove them wrong and do exactly what they didn't want her to do just so she could tell them they couldn't tell her what to do. Everyone had been right about Logan, but here Lulu was, giving him another chance to hurt her. Now she might be trying to get involved with Johnny Zacchara, a mobster whose propensity for violence equaled, if not surpassed, Logan's.

Georgie's frustration increased. Did Lulu want to get hurt? How many times did she have to put herself into a dangerous situation before she grew up and started acting responsibly.

Georgie stood up. She had to be in class soon and she had just remembered she had left her history book at home. As she left the Coffee House, she hoped Spinelli would be able to get through to her. Maybe if Lulu realized she needed to be a better friend, she would become a better person and start paying attention to the feelings of the people who cared about her. Maybe after Spinelli talked to her, other people's feelings would matter to her more than being able to do whatever she wanted just to spite them.

As Georgie got into her car, she had no idea of the horrifying turn this day was about to take. What she found waiting for her at home would change Georgie's life, and the lives of several people in Port Charles, forever.


	12. Chapter 12

Stone Cold wasn't home when Spinelli got back to the penthouse, so he sat down and accessed the records his master needed so they would be ready when he returned. The Mob Lawyer showed up first, looking irritable.

"Welcome, tightly strung legal one. How may The Jackal be of assistance?"

She told him of her interrupted plans, implying that Stone Cold would not care or understand what she was doing. Spinelli began to apologize on his mentor's behalf when Jason walked in.

"Johnny got hauled in for questioning about Emily's murder," he told Diane. "I want you to get him released."

The Mob Lawyer tried to convince him to leave Johnny in jail, but Jason was insistent; he would not take "no" for an answer.

"Where did you get that?" she asked when Spinelli handed her two copies of Johnny's record. There was one for her and one for Commissioner Scorpio.

"I'm The Jackal," Spinelli said simply. "I rule the Internet."

She gave him a "whatever" look before leaving.

"Why would Stone Cold wish to procure The Warped One's release?" Spinelli asked. "If I may be so bold, are you really planning to facilitate his termination?"

Stone Cold said nothing. Then Spinelli had another idea.

"Or is Stone Cold wisely wishing for the Septic Son to owe him a favor, thereby furthering the possibility of a truce between the Zaccharas and Mr. Corinthos, Sir?"

"I don't think Johnny killed Emily and I don't want the cops wasting time trying to prove he's guilty while the real killer's out there picking out a new victim."

"What makes you think it wasn't him?" Spinelli asked, surprised.

"It's just a gut feeling. He was trying to stop his father; he helped me look for him."

"Do the Law Abiding Ones know this?"

"Harper's treating everyone like a suspect; he's being a good cop, trying to get all the facts. Lucky's all over the place. First he blames Anthony Zacchara, then he blames Johnny, but the person he really wants to blame is me."

"The Law Abiding One no doubt resents the fact that you're the father of baby Jake," Spinelli said.

He didn't want Stone Cold to dwell too long on the possibility that he was blamed for Emily's death; he knew instinctively that part of Stone Cold blamed himself for not being able to save her. He knew that would be how he would feel if someone close to him had been killed. It was bad enough that Stone Cold's own mother blamed him, irrationally; he didn't need the cops hounding him, too. Jason loved his sister and would never hurt her.

"He has every right to be angry about the situation," Jason said, "but not if it means Emily's killer goes free."

"Officer Spencer should be taken off the case; clearly his hatred precludes impartiality."

Jason nodded.

"Lucky keeps making it that much easier for the real killer to get away with it."

"Which also makes it that much easier for the killer to strike again," Spinelli said gravely.

Later, The Senior Sith Lord came to confront Jason about sending Diane to get Johnny released. Spinelli watched anxiously; he had a feeling something bad was going to happen. Sure enough, Trevor went too far. He threatened to kill someone else Jason cared about and Jason pulled out his gun.

"No, Stone Cold, don't shoot!" Spinelli said urgently, stepping in front of him. "The Jackal sincerely believes that ending the life of Senior Sith Lord Lancing would be most-"

"Spinelli, I want you to leave right now!" Jason yelled.

He didn't want Spinelli to see him do this, and he was going to do it. Lancing needed to die.

Spinelli spoke quickly, not wanting to make him angrier, but needing to make his point and protect his friend from starting a chain of events that could land him in jail for the rest of his life. Stone Cold had barely escaped being convicted of Evil Al's murder.

"Just think of the consequences. Not that he doesn't deserve Stone Cold justice, as it were, but maybe his guard's outside. Maybe some fair and lovely innocent bystander witnessed him entering the premises. The finger of guilt would point directly at you and you could be arrested and this time convicted of murder!"

His tone had become pleading by the end. Jason was like a brother to him; he didn't want to see him go to prison again. Trevor laughed.

"You are so right," he said to Spinelli.

"Shut up," Spinelli told him, wishing he could sound more like a man.

His voice had squeaked; that happened when he was experiencing intense feelings of anger, fear or frustration. Right now he was angry with Trevor, but scared for Jason. He was breathing hard, looking at Jason, praying to all the Gods and Goddesses that this would not end in violence.

Jason looked at Spinelli, then at Trevor and put his gun away. Spinelli breathed a sigh of relief.

"Get out," Stone Cold told Darth Lancing furiously.

"You can tell your boss," Trevor continued to Spinelli, "that he just started a conflagration." He looked at Jason and clarified, "a war."

Trevor closed the door and Jason's cell rang. It was Burney telling him about a shipment. Jason said he would meet him on the peer, then hung up.

"I hope preventing you from offing Darth Lancing hasn't created more trouble," Spinelli told him. "I was just trying to protect you from an act with dyer consequences."

"You did the right thing. I would never wanna make you an accessory."

Spinelli shook his head, realizing he'd gotten the wrong idea.

"Stone Cold, I wasn't thinking of myself. I was just thinking of you as a friend and a brother; that's how I consider you."

Jason smiled.

"You're family to me, too, Spinelli."

They were interrupted again by a knock at the door. This time it was Johnny Zacchara.

"The Jackal will absent himself to his regrettably pink room and contemplate the acceptance of color."

He went upstairs, feeling better than he had all day. Next to his Granny, Stone cold, Lulu and Georgie were the closest thing he had to family and he was glad Jason felt the same way. He smiled, thinking his baby was going to have the coolest uncle in Port Charles.


	13. Chapter 13

"Maxie," Georgie called as she ran into the house, "have you seen my history book?"

She stopped, seeing Maxie lying on the floor. She ran to her, thinking something had happened to her heart. She had had an infection a few months ago that had reached her heart, then she needed to have an abscess repaired. The family's biggest fear was always that something would go wrong and she would need another transplant.

Georgie bent and felt for a pulse, but couldn't find one. As she started CPR, she noticed the cord around her sister's neck.

"Oh my God! Maxie, talk to me! Breathe, Maxie! Please, breathe!"

She called the police, then resumed CPR, but there was nothing she could do. Maxie was already gone.

Mack arrived with Detectives Harper, Rodriguez and Spencer. They had brought paramedics, too, but Maxie was beyond saving. Mack and Georgie held each other and cried while the detectives went over the crime scene and called the forensics team. Then Harper questioned Georgie as gently as he could, but Georgie couldn't tell him much. She hadn't seen the killer, only Maxie lying there when she got home.

After Mack and the detectives were done questioning her, Mack went to the hospital to tell Robin and Georgie left the house, too, after automatically calling the school to let them know she'd had a death in the family and wouldn't be in for a while. She couldn't stand to stay there and watch the forensics team go over the house. She couldn't stay where her big sister had just been murdered.

The next thing she remembered was being in front of Jason's apartment. She had instinctively gone to the only real friend she had in Port Charles. Dillon was on location again, but she had a feeling she would have gone to Spinelli even if Dillon was home.

Spinelli gave her a surprised but pleased smile when he opened the door.

"Greetings, Wise Georgie."

Then he saw the look on her face. Something horrible had happened. She was pale, her eyes were glazed with shock and she was shaking.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry; I know it's late, but I-"

She started to cry and he gently pulled her into the apartment. Jason wasn't there.

"I really need a friend," she sobbed.

"Of course," he said, hugging her protectively and bringing her over to the couch, feeling concerned and surprised. He had seen Georgie cry once, when Maxie was in the hospital, but never like this. He let her cry for a while, then asked, "can you tell me what happened?"

"After I left the Coffee House, I went home to get my history book before class. I knew I left it home, but I couldn't remember where. I got home and started to ask Maxie if she'd seen it and I found her lying on the ground. She wasn't breathing and she didn't have a pulse."

"Was it her heart?"

"That's what I thought at first, but then I saw the cord around her neck."

"Oh my God!"

"I called the police and tried to revive her, but I couldn't. Spinelli, my sister's dead!"

She started to cry harder and Spinelli held her tighter.

"I'm so sorry," he said softly.

He held her until she stopped crying. Then she looked up at him, feeling grateful that he'd been here. She didn't want to be at the house, but she didn't want to be alone either. Spinelli had not asked her any questions; he had seemed to know that was the last thing she needed right now. He had been exactly who she needed to see.

"thank you," she said softly. "I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't been here."

"You would have called me and I would have come to you."

"You're a faithful friend, too," she said as she wiped her eyes.

They were silent for a while, then Georgie said, "I was annoyed with her when I saw her this morning. The last thing I did before I left was yell at her. It wasn't even anything big; I was just thinking about my finals and trying to study and she was getting on my nerves. It wasn't even anything she doesn't normally do, but I yelled at my sister and now she's-"

She started to cry again. She put her head on his shoulder and he stroked her hair.

"This is not your fault," he said quietly but emphatically. "Georgie, there was no way you could have known this would happen. Maxie knew you loved her; one moment of sibling rivalry won't change that. Your sister didn't die because you were annoyed with her."

"I can't apologize!" she sobbed.

"You don't need to; she knows you're sorry. She knew you didn't mean to snap at her."

"It seemed like we were at odds more and more since she got back from boarding school, especially after Jesse's death. Once he died she got more self-destructive; I mean, sleeping with Lucky to get him to try to leave Elizabeth, getting him pills, making that bet with Logan. It was like she decided to become a prostitute to get back at Jesse for dying. Once he was gone she just got meaner and meaner to everyone around her. But she wasn't always like you knew her, Spinelli; she was never really kind, but she used to be nicer. Jesse's death turned her into a completely different person."

She didn't know why she needed him to know this, but at the moment it seemed very important to her that he understood. She needed him to know that Maxie had some good in her when she was alive.

"There's no excuse for all the bad things she did, but I know she could have been nice again under the right circumstances. Maybe she could have even turned her life around and stopped sabotaging herself, but she's never gonna have the chance to do that now. I think Coop was really good for her, but she slept with his best friend and that squashed any chance she had with him. Maybe if she hadn't done that she would have been with Coop today and she'd still be alive. Maybe if I'd been a little more tolerant with her this morning, she-"

"This is not your fault," he said again. "You did not put that cord around her neck, Georgie; whoever did that will be caught and made to pay, but there is no way you are responsible for your sister's death."

"I can't go back to that house," she said softly. "But I have to; Mack needs me."

"You don't have to go back right away; I'm sure your father will understand. Besides, I don't think you should be driving while you're this upset. I'm relieved that you got here without having an accident.""

He stopped and she looked up at him, knowing even before she saw the look on his face that he felt guilty for giving her more to worry about.

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to-"

"No, it's OK; you're just acting like the concerned friend that you are."

She felt him relax and her mind flashed back to their conversation in the Coffee House. Lulu always got mad at him for sharing his opinions; it was no wonder he was anxious if he said something he thought might be wrong.

She talked for a long time about what it had been like when she and Maxie were kids. He listened attentively, not saying much. He seemed to know she needed to give him a mental picture of Maxie before Jesse, the Maxie Georgie had grown up with, the one who had been strong when Mack had been badly burned in the Port Charles Hotel fire when they weren't sure he would live. She knew the only way Spinelli would know that Maxie was if she told him and she needed to share that side of her with him. She didn't want him to think The Bad Blonde One was all Maxie had ever been or would ever be. She knew him well enough to know that if he knew there was some goodness in a person, there might be a chance for it to make them better. He worked for a guy who killed for a living, but he knew there was good in Jason; killing wasn't all there was to Jason anymore than sex for revenge was all their was to Maxie.

She was so caught up in memories of the good side of her sister that she jumped when her cell rang. It was Mack, checking to see if she was OK and asking her to come home. He needed to call Felicia and he wanted her to be able to talk to Georgie so she would know her other daughter was safe. She knew that was his way of saying he wanted her home so he knew she was safe.

"Thank you," she told Spinelli again, giving him another hug before opening the door.

"Are you sure you're OK to drive and to go back to the house?"

"I'm sure. I'll call you when I get home to let you know I'm safe."

"Good, and please give your parents my condolences."

"I will."

She looked at him for a few seconds, then kissed his cheek.

"You're a good friend, Spinelli."

As she closed the door, she thanked all the Gods and Goddesses he believed in, as well as the God she believed in, for sending The Jackal to Port Charles.


	14. Chapter 14

Spinelli tried to focus on his research after Georgie left, but couldn't. He kept hearing Georgie's voice in his head, seeing her face as she cried for her sister. He wished he'd known the Maxie she had told him of tonight. He was worried about his friend. He couldn't imagine Georgie's feelings when she came home and found her sister dead on the floor. He didn't know if he would be able to live with a memory like that for the rest of his life. He wished there was something more he could do for Georgie. Maxie hadn't been his friend, or even someone he liked, but she didn't deserve to die. He wondered if it was the same person who had killed Emily. If so, either Stone Cold or the cops would hunt him down and make him pay.

He looked up when the door opened.

"What's going on?" Jason asked, seeing the anxiety on Spinelli's face. "What happened?"

Spinelli told him about Maxie's death and Georgie's visit.

"Another strangling?"

Spinelli nodded.

"The Jackal thought he was going after people connected to Mr. Corinthos, Sir, but Maxie's death seems to disprove that hypothesis."

It was Jason's turn to nod.

"Why do you keep looking at your phone?"

"I was worried about The Faithful Friend driving; she's so upset. She said she'd call me when she got home to let me know she was safe."

Spinelli's cell rang then.

"It's me," she said when he answered. "I got home OK."

Spinelli relaxed and gave Jason the thumbs up sign.

"Are you OK?" he asked her gently.

"I think so. But I have to go now; my dad and I need to call my mom."

"OK, but call me if you need anything?"

"I will. Thanks."

She did call him later and told him Maxie had received a text message before she died. The message said, "see you soon."

"I have a suspect, Spinelli, but I have no proof."

"Who's the suspect?"

"Cooper Barrett."

He was silent and even over the phone Georgie could sense his skepticism.

"He was the first guy Carly suspected in Leticia's murder and maybe her instincts were right. He has no real alibi for most of the black and white ball. He fits the description of the guy Johnny got a glimpse of, and we don't know much about this guy. He was a soldier who fought in Iraq and then showed up out of no where. Plus, he texts a lot. I mean, I know a lot of people do, but he's always very secretive about his texts, and he stops when he sees someone near him. I talked to him tonight and he knew Maxie got a text message before I told him; I was the one who told him she was dead. Spinelli, my sister may have been in love with the man who killed her."

"OK, then we need to either prove or disprove your theory."

"Will you help me?"

"Of course. Can you get a copy of the text message?"

"Mack downloaded and saved it; I'll try to get it. He's still on the phone with my mom; they're making arrangements for her to come back for the funeral."

"If you can get a copy, The Jackal can trace it, but all the other messages were piggy backed onto other phones. This may be the case with Maxie's text, as well. In fact, it is most likely, but even if we only figure out that it was piggy backed, we'll at least know it was the same guy."

"Coop says most of the cops call him the Text Message Killer."

"An apt nomenclature."

"I need to find him, Spinelli," she said softly. "I need to know who killed my sister."

He could hear the tears in her voice and wished he could offer her more than just his cyber skills.

"I'll do everything I can to help you," he said gently.

"I know."

The next morning, Georgie came over with a copy of the text message. As Spinelli had suspected, it had been piggy backed onto the phone of an implausible source. This one was not funny; it was Georgie's father.

"If Cooper is the killer," Georgie said angrily, "he has a very sick sense of humor."

"I've been researching him," Spinelli said. "Most of what I found merely suggests valor in combat, but there was a woman who was strangled near where he was stationed. I'm still trying to Jackal into that unfortunate female soldier's military file, but it's marked confidential; it'll take time."

"He had motive to kill Maxie; I mean, she betrayed him, and with his best friend. But why the others? Emily and Leticia never did anything to him, and the only thing Carly did was accuse him of killing Leticia."

"That would be motive enough to try to strangle the Valkyrie; she was on to him and she let him know it.'

She nodded, rubbing her eyes.

"Did you sleep?" he asked gently.

"Very little," she said, grateful for his obvious concern.

"Is there anything I can do?"

She hugged him.

"You're doing everything you can, just by being here for me and by helping me find out about Coop. If he's my sister's killer, I want him to pay."

"Whoever killed Maxie will be brought to justice," he promised.

"I hope so," she said with a tired sigh, "before he gets a chance to kill again."

"You need to be careful," he said gravely, voicing a very real concern he'd had for her since she told him about Cooper. "You need to be very cautious around The Not So Clean Cut Cadet; he can't know you suspect him."

"You're afraid he'll come after me, too."

He nodded.

"I'll be careful. I've been thinking about something. Logan knows Coop. Maybe I can find out how much he knows? Maybe he can give us information that will help us."

Spinelli forced his objections away. They were purely emotional and biased and he knew it. The last thing Georgie needed was for Spinelli to start acting jealous of The Crabby Commando; that wouldn't help her. Besides, she was right and he knew it. Outside cyberspace, Logan was their best source.

She called Logan and asked for a meeting alone. They both knew he wouldn't talk in front of Spinelli. She met with him, then came back.

"He couldn't tell me much. I mean, he didn't tell me anything we don't already know, except that he was borderline obsessive with his missions."

"That corroborates his military file."

"Plus we have that strangled female soldier. Spinelli, the more we find out about this guy, the more I'm convinced that he's the Text Message Killer. But why?"

"He doesn't seem to have a pattern. His first three victims were connected to Mr. Corinthos, Sir, but your sister was the Police Commissioner's daughter and had nothing to do with the business."

"Keep in mind that serial killers are normally impulsive, aggressive people with no lasting relationships and no conscience, nothing to keep them from their most primal impulses."

"Wow," he said, impressed, "uttered with the authority of a professional sleuth."

"I'm the Police Commissioner's daughter."

"Yes, but you possess a very keen intellect, which leads me to trust your suspicion that the Clean Cut Cadet is in reality the Text Message Killer."

"If I'm right about Coop, there's gotta be a clue, something that will let me prove to Mack that he's the man who murdered my sister before he kills again."


	15. Chapter 15

Spinelli went with Nadine to check out the apartment in her building the next day. It had two bedrooms, was not too big but was not tiny and everything worked. It was also reasonably priced. Deciding that it was ideal, he told the landlord he would like to move in on or after January first.

He spent the next few days researching Coop. He had told Stone Cold of his and Georgie's suspicions and the reasons behind them. Jason had agreed to help. It had been surprisingly easy for Spinelli to convince him that Coop might be the killer. He had gone to Coop's room to investigate him when he wasn't there, but hadn't found anything. He had expected that, knowing Cooper was too smart to leave evidence lying around.

When he wasn't in cyberspace trying to prove Georgie's suspicions, he was with Georgie herself, offering an ear or a shoulder. She was OK when she was focused on researching Coop, but there were times when the reality of Maxie's death crashed into her and Spinelli was her strength during those times. Aside from her family, Spinelli was always there when she needed him.

He went to the funeral to be Georgie's moral support when she got up to give the eulogy. She had asked him to sit close to her, so he sat directly behind her. She sat between Mack and Felicia, with Robin next to Mack. Spinelli found himself sitting next to Cooper, who looked shell shocked. "He's either innocent," Spinelli thought, "or he's a terrific actor." Given everything they had found so far, Spinelli was leaning towards the latter.

As he listened to Georgie speak, he couldn't help remembering Emily's funeral a few weeks ago. Georgie looked the same way Elizabeth had and he felt helpless. The Maternal One was not really his friend; they were acquaintances, not much more.

Georgie, on the other hand, was one of Spinelli's best friends. He had begun to realize that she was a truer friend to him than Lulu. Georgie never pushed him away; neither did Stone Cold. Lulu was the only friend he had who acted unreasonably and he needed to talk to her about it. Georgie had been right that day in the Coffee House. As soon as he did everything he could to help Georgie through this horrific day, he would find the Blonde One and settle this once and for all.

"I couldn't have gotten through this week without you," Georgie told him later.

"I'm glad I could help."

Her eyes filled again and she barely spoke above a whisper.

"I still can't believe she's gone. I just buried my sister."

"I know," he whispered, putting his arms around her as she buried her face in his shoulder. "It's OK."

They were alone in the living room. Everyone else had gone home. Felicia was upstairs in Maxie's room and Mack had gone to the station to check on the investigation.

When she had mostly stopped crying, she pulled away slightly and surprised him. She kissed his lips. His eyes went wide . He kissed her back for a few seconds, then pulled back. What was he doing?

"We can't," he said, trying to keep his voice gentle, trying to keep the anxiety out of it. "I'm sorry; I shouldn't have-"

"Why not?" she asked, looking hurt."

Because you're grieving and I don't want to take advantage of that."

"Then it's not Lulu?" she asked hopefully.

"Lulu?"

He was genuinely surprised.

"No. We're not gonna be together. There are times when I'm not even sure she wants me as a friend. You're wise, beautiful and strong; I would be happy to have you choose to be with me, but I want you to be yourself when and if you do. I don't want you to base your choice on grief or the need for comfort. If you choose me, I choose you. But the choice has to be clearly thought out because there a several factors to consider; your grief is one of them and another very important one is that I'm gonna be a father in six months. Are you prepared to get involved with a boyfriend with a child? I only had one encounter with The Falsely Fair Jolene and it's having long lasting effects. I need to know that you're fully prepared for, and willing to accept, those effects. I don't want whatever happens with us to become something we regret because we rushed into it due to your grief and my need to comfort you. That could ruin our current relationship, our friendship, and you're too important to me."

The hurt look had left her face. Now there was only the shock and grief that had been there since Maxie's death.

"I've wanted this for a long time, Spinelli, but I couldn't tell you because of Lulu. I already lost Dillon to her and you were so into her. I've wanted to tell you for months that I was falling in love with you."

He stared at her. He was feeling surprised, excited and guilty all at once. Georgie was beautiful and could have any man she wanted, and she was choosing him? She wanted The Jackal? This was a novel concept; no girl had ever chosen him before. He felt guilty because he knew what it was like to have someone you loved constantly looking at someone else. He had done that to Georgie, the one woman who accepted The Jackal, flaws and all. He knew how it had felt when Lulu did it to him and wouldn't wish that on his worst enemy.

"I didn't know," was all he could think of to say.

"Did you mean what you said about choosing me? Would you really wanna be with me?"

"Yes, but there are still the concerns of-"

"Life is full of concerns and unpredicted events. Your baby wasn't planned, but you're being a man. You're stepping up and taking responsibility for your child. I could never be with a guy who didn't do that. You have no idea how much I respect you for that. As for my grief, you've been the one thing that's made it bearable."

"I'm sorry it had to be under these tragic circumstances," he said softly after a few seconds, "but I'm really glad you finally told me."

"We're OK then, and we can try?"

"Yes to both questions. But I do think we need to take things slow. I don't want us to rush things. When you go away for your Junior year you might meet someone and I don't want you to feel guilty if you do. You'll be away in a completely different country for nine months, after all; that's a long time. No matter what happens with us romantically, I want us to stay friends. You're one of the most important people in the world to me."

"You're right. Rushing into anything would definitely be a mistake, and I need us to stay friends, whether or not we end up together forever. No one can predict the future."

Her face told him what she was thinking. If they could have predicted the future, Georgie could have saved Maxie. Spinelli felt a pang of guilt at the thought that if Maxie hadn't died, he might not have found out how Georgie really felt. It had taken her sister's death, which had made her vulnerable, for the truth to finally come out and for her to act on it.

He wondered how many other people had known how she felt. Had he been the last to know? It hadn't been obvious to him. Suddenly he realized why. She had been quiet about it. She had never tried anything out of character to make him notice her, unlike Spinelli, who had tried everything he could think of to get Lulu's attention. But all that had earned him was her anger, and eventually a trip to the emergency room, where he had met Jolene.

They sat on the couch and talked until Felicia came downstairs. Sensing they needed to talk, to grieve for Maxie in private now, Spinelli excused himself and told Georgie he would call her later. She walked him to the porch, where he kissed her again, this time more to offer comfort than for romantic reasons, before leaving.


	16. Chapter 16

Lulu found Spinelli sitting at his table at Kelly's, his ever present orange soda still almost completely untouched in front of him, his laptop, surprisingly, still in his messenger bag. He was deep in thought.

"What's up?" she asked, concerned, touching his shoulder. "What are you thinking about?"

She had known almost immediately that what she had done a few days ago had been childish. He had been trying to get her to open up to him and she had thrown Logan at him like a weapon. He had only been trying to be the good friend he was. She had started to open up to him about Johnny, but then she had shut down and punished him for trying to get her to be honest with both him and herself.

"Self-respect," he said cryptically, "and I'm glad you're here. Actually, I knew you'd be here eventually, and I need to talk to you."

She gave him a puzzled look and sat down next to him.

"Please," he began nervously, "don't say anything until I finish? It's gonna sound like I'm rambling, but I do have a point, so please be patient with me and don't say anything until you hear me out first."

She nodded. He had never asked her to be quiet before; this must be important.

"I found out today that Georgie likes me as more than a friend. She's chosen me; she wants to be with me. She said she's wanted to tell me that for a long time, but she was afraid because of my feelings for you. I'm not saying it's your fault," he said quickly, as if afraid she might accuse him of blaming her. "I'm just saying I didn't see it because I wasn't ready to accept that I wasn't who you wanted. I wanted to get you away from the- from Logan- before he could hurt you and it didn't work. Then I wanted to keep you from giving him the chance to hurt you again. That didn't work either and that was when I forced myself to accept the fact that we're never gonna be a couple. Georgie had enough self-respect not to do what I did with you. She didn't bend over backwards to fawn all over me; she didn't insinuate herself into my life."

"Spinelli-"

She was shocked to think he thought she considered him someone who insinuated himself into her life. She wanted him in her life.

"Please, let me finish. She respected herself enough to be herself and not try to change herself to impress me. I know there are a lot of things I should have done differently with you and I'm sorry for the way I behaved at times. But now I can do no less than Georgie did; I have to respect myself, and you, enough to stop trying to hold on to you if you don't want me. I love you, and I'm not talking romantic love; we're never gonna be a couple and I accept that completely. You're my friend; I love you. But, Lulu, this friendship includes both of us. You can't keep pushing me away just because we disagree or because you don't wanna hear what I tell you. Georgie and Stone Cold never push me away; you're the only friend I have who does that. So that leads me to ask you. What do you want from me? Do you want an honest friendship, or do you want someone who will agree with everything you say, or if he doesn't agree, pretend to agree and let you think what you want about his opinion? For my part, I won't have any self-respect if I settle for less than an honest friendship just so you won't be angry with me. I hope you feel the same way. I need you to decide whether you really want me as a friend, all the way, or whether you want me to leave you alone. It'll hurt me if that's what you want, but I will respect us both enough to honor your wishes. But I won't settle for half a friendship anymore. You said I had your support, no matter what happened with Jolene's baby and I know you meant it, which makes me think you really do wanna be my friend. But when you either get angry with me for sharing my opinion, or completely ignore what I tell you and then avoid me, that's not friendship; that's manipulation. I don't wanna be manipulated anymore. I want your friendship and I need your support, but not at the expense of my self-respect; not anymore. Georgie didn't compromise hers and I will no longer compromise mine. She showed me that I have a right to my feelings, self-respect included. You want me to respect your boundaries, but you have to respect mine, too, and that's one of them. You can't push me away or use my feelings to manipulate me anymore; it's not fair and I believe I deserve better. My romantic feelings for you were not returned and I respect you for not pretending you felt something you didn't. I won't pretend anymore either. It makes me angry when you play these games with me; first I'm your friend, then I'm not. I wanna be your friend all the time, not just when you allow me to be. Will you let me?"

She stared at him. Her feelings were so mixed that she couldn't describe them. He had never spoken to her like this before. She admired it. Part of her wanted to be angry with him for some of what he'd said, but the rest of her knew it was the truth, and if she denied it and got angry with him she would be doing exactly that. She would be pushing him away and punishing him for telling her the truth. The truth of everything he'd said made her feel guilty, and it hurt her that she had treated him so badly. How many times had she apologized, but then almost immediately done it all over again. She had been playing games with him and the fact that she hadn't been aware that they were games was no excuse. She loved him; he was her best friend, and he was absolutely right. He deserved so much better than a fair weather friend and she was glad he had finally stood up to her. She admired his courage; the look on his face suggested that he was afraid she was going to dissolve their friendship right then and there.

"Why do you put up with me?" she asked emotionally, hugging his shoulders.

"You're my friend," he said again. "I love you."

"I do want you to be a full-time friend. I love you, Spinelli; I don't wanna lose you because of my own childish behavior."

He stood up with a sigh of relief and hugged her. She looked at him cautiously, wondering if it was too soon to bring up a particular subject after they had just had an honest communication about their friendship. She decided against it and decided to ask him something that made her curious. She hoped the way she put it didn't sound wrong. She didn't want him to think Georgie had told him what she did for the wrong reasons, or that Lulu was trying to police his love life after she had given him so much grief about Logan and Johnny.

"So are you and Georgie a couple now?"

"Well, nothing is official. We're gonna take things slow and see what happens. Neither of us wants to rush into anything."

"That's good; I know first-hand how bad it can be to rush into something."

"Lulu," Mike said from his office doorway.

She looked at her watch.

"Oh, sorry, Mike. I'll be ready in a minute."

She turned back to Spinelli, who smiled.

"We'll talk more later. The Jackal will return to Casa De Stone Cold and continue an important cyber mission."

She watched his back as he left, suddenly realizing how much he'd grown up since they met. She wished she could believe she'd had a positive affect on his maturity, but considering everything she'd put him through, she thought she had more to do with his growing pains than his positive experiences. But were growing pains negative experiences? That was a philosophical question she would have to ask him; she was honestly curious about his input.


	17. Chapter 17

Spinelli found himself growing increasingly more frustrated each day by his inability to find out more about Cooper Barrett, or about the unfortunate soldier who had been strangled in Iraq, near where Coop had been stationed. Under normal circumstances, he would have loved the challenge, but this was too important to thwart him. Georgie needed to know who had killed her sister and he needed to help her. If Cooper was the killer, there was more of a chance he would kill again the longer it took to prove it. Stone Cold was trying to help, too, but he was busy with Mr. Corinthos, Sir.

Sonny had been insisting since the night Maxie had been killed that he wanted Johnny dead. He was convinced that Johnny had tried to kill Kate. More accurately, he was convinced that Johnny had tried to kill him and Kate had gotten in the way and had almost taken the bullet herself. Kate had since left Port Charles to go back to Manhattan. Sonny was determined not only to get her back, but to make Johnny pay for something Jason was convinced Trevor had been the one to orchestrate. Trevor had said Jason had started a war after provoking him, not Johnny. Jason didn't want to kill Johnny for something Trevor had done. Trevor was the real threat and Jason needed to make Sonny see that before it was too late.

Another concern was Lulu. Jason knew from Spinelli, and from his own observations, that Lulu had been seeing Johnny secretly. He didn't know how far their relationship went; maybe they were just friends, but if Jason had to take out Johnny, he was determined not to let Lulu get caught in the crossfire. Lulu was his friend as well as Spinelli's and Jason was determined not to let hers be the next funeral because Sonny had completely lost his objectivity.

Besides having Max have Johnny tailed, Jason had Spinelli track his car using his GPS system. That way if Johnny lost the tail, Jason would still know roughly where he was.

Between tracking Johnny, researching Coop and preparing to move into his new apartment in a few days, Spinelli was too busy to think about Christmas. Georgie was glad for that this year. It would be her first Christmas with Spinelli, but it would also be her first Christmas without Maxie. She knew Spinelli wouldn't expect her to fake Christmas cheer, but she would have felt guilty if she hadn't. Neither of them brought up Christmas with each other unless someone happened to be there and mentioned it to them.

While Jason was out visiting Carly and the boys on Christmas Eve, Georgie showed up at the penthouse. Spinelli was packing most of his clothes, leaving out enough for the week, when he heard her knock.

"Hi," he said, hugging her and kissing her cheek. They had shared more romantic kisses since the day of Maxie's funeral, but he could tell by her expression that she needed comfort and friendship now, not romance. "What's wrong? Did something else happen?"

"No," she said tiredly, "I just needed to get out of the house for a while. I tried to pick up a shift at Kelly's, but I just couldn't focus. Mike sent me home. I hate not being able to cover my shifts; it always makes me feel so guilty."

"I'm sure the Senior Sir understands."

"He does, but that doesn't make me feel any better. Are you busy?"

"No, I was just packing for the move next week; it's nothing I can't finish later."

"Maxie's still there," Georgie said softly when they sat on the couch.

Spinelli put his arm around her.

"You mean you still feel her presence in your house?"

She nodded.

"We loved Christmas when we were little. All the presents are under the tree. I don't know what I'm gonna do with hers; I was so excited to give it to her."

Spinelli wished he could say something to help her, maybe give her a suggestion about what to do with Maxie's presents, but he was afraid to suggest anything. He didn't want to sound insensitive or calice.

"Don't think about what to do with any of her things now; it's too soon. You and your family will decide that when the time is right."

She smiled up at him. It was a sad smile, but her smiles were understandably very rare since Maxie's death.

"How do you always know exactly what I need you to say or do to make me feel better?"

He smiled back, cuddling her and kissing the top of her head.

"You do the same for me. If I had to guess, I would say we were interfacing properly."

"Interfacing properly," she thought as she snuggled against him. "How does he even manage to make a computer term sound romantic?"

"I know today and tomorrow are gonna be hard for you," he said seriously, looking into her eyes. "I don't care what time it is; call me if you need to."

"I will," she promised.

They were interrupted, as often happened at Casa De Stone Cold, by a knock at the door. Spinelli sighed and got up to answer it.

"Hi," Lulu said, looking rushed. "I can't stay; my dad's about to have surgery, but I came to drop off your Christmas present. I don't know if I'll have time later and I wanted to give it to you before my dad's operation. I'm not exactly sure why it was important for you to have it before he goes under the knife, but I guess it's just in case something happens; I didn't wanna forget. Hi, Georgie."

Georgie nodded absently. Lulu paused, realizing she'd just sounded completely insensitive.

"I'm sorry; I'm distracted. I know this must be hard for you."

Georgie nodded again.

"It's OK. I hope your father comes through the surgery OK."

"Thanks."

"Call me and let me know if he's OK?" Spinelli asked.

He and Lulu had become closer since their brutally honest conversation at Kelly's the day of Maxie's funeral. He knew she was afraid of losing her father. If Georgie hadn't been dealing with Maxie's death, he would have offered to go with Lulu to the hospital to be there during the surgery. But her family would be there and Tracey and Lucky didn't like him. Georgie had Dr. Robin and her parents, but her parents were at the house and Robin was probably working. Georgie needed Spinelli right now more than Lulu did.

"I will. Thank you both."

She handed Spinelli his present and whispered "Merry Christmas" in his ear before leaving, not wanting to sound even more insensitive by being cheerful in front of someone who was spending her first Christmas without her sister.

After Georgie left, Spinelli ordered furniture for his new apartment online and scheduled to have it delivered on the first. He was putting off ordering baby things until he knew what the baby's sex would be. He couldn't wait until next month, when a sonogram would be taken and he could see an actual picture of his child.

Georgie spent Christmas with Mack and Felicia. Spinelli had lunch with Nadine at Kelly's to cheer her up. She missed her estranged mother and was feeling lonely with Jolene in a coma. She told him of the problems she was having at the hospital with Epiphany. She was less hostile now, but Nadine could tell she was still suspicious of her and was terrified of making a mistake that would convince the head nurse that Nadine was a killer, too.

"Don't worry, Sweet One," he said affectionately. "Formidable Nurse Epiphany is harsh with everyone. I saw her throw her own son out of the hospital once just for talking to someone about a subject she didn't like."

"It seems like she's toughest on me and the new orderly, Cassius. I know what her problem is with me, but she seems to dislike him for no reason at all."

"Some people just rub you the wrong way for no discernable reason."

"I guess."

She smiled suddenly, struck by a stray thought.

"You've given me an upgrade."

"Upgrade?"

"I'm the sweet one now, not just the seemingly sweet one?"

He laughed.

"I guess I have."

He finished his packing when he got home, save what he would need to keep out until the day of the move. As he finished, he reflected on the past year and all its changes. For the most part, it had been a good year. His life had changed drastically since meeting Stone Cold and the rest of his new friends. He smiled as he heard Stone Cold come in and close the door downstairs, thinking 2008 could only get better. He would not only have his new friends, but his child. Spinelli had matured a lot in the past year. He knew he still had some growing up to do, but he knew that with all the new people in his life, his new support system, he would be able to deal with anything life threw at him, as well as help his loved ones do the same.


End file.
